152 The Irish Naturalist. 



walk," and that the flight resembled that of a Puffin, the 

 motion of the wings a little less rapid. The opening of the 

 wings on the approach of the boat was only natural, for the 

 bird was evidently wounded, as its feathers bear traces of the 

 shot, and it was incapable of rising from the w^ater, one tarsus 

 being broken. 



Different systematists have placed the genus Chionis in 

 widely different families and orders. Gray ("Genera of 

 Birds"), places the family Chionididcc in the order Gallinae ; 

 Cuvier (" Regne Animal "), between the genera Fiilica and 

 Glareola; while Audouin & Co., in their " Dictionnaire d'His- 

 toire Naturelle," rank it among the web-footed birds. The 

 researches of Professor Blainville have, however, now set the 

 matter at rest, as he has shown its structural and anatomical 

 affinities to the Oyster-catchers {Hcematoptts^ ; and Mivart 

 (''Birds: the Elements of Ornithology"), places Chionis 2iVi\Q>n% 

 the Charadriidce, not even assigning to it a sub-family in 

 common with Thinocorus and Attagis. 



Of the genus Chionis there are two species, — Chionis alba 

 and C. mijior; the average dimensions are as follows: — 



The bill is very strong and convex ; on the cheek there is a 

 bare spot, covered in the adults with yellowish papillae ; wing 

 armed with a blunt knob at carpal joint; second primar^^ 

 longest ; tail strong, nearly square ; legs reddish-brown (colour 

 seems to vary considerably according to age ; and judging 

 from the two specimens I have examined, becomes dull lead- 

 colour after death) ; hind toe elevated from ground ; claws 

 black, short, channelled on under side ; irides ( ? species) dull 

 lead-colour; plumage all over pure white. 



' For these dimensions, furnished by Professor Newton. I have again to 

 thank Mr. Barrington. 



