714 



THINOCOEYTHID^. 



Family VI. THINOCORYTHID^. 



Palate schizognathous. 



Nasals holorhinal. 



Basipterygoid processes and occipital foramina present ; supra- 

 orbital impressions present. 



Vomer broad and rounded in front, not pointed, and resembling 

 tbat of sEgithoc/nathce. 



Bill like that of Game-birds, without any sbeatb. 



Crop globular. 



Spinal feather-tract forked on the upper back. 



Ambiens, femoro-caudal, accessory femoro-caudal, semitendinosus, 

 and accessory semitendinosus muscles present. 



Feet not webbed, with a scarcely perceptible membrane between 

 the base of the outer and middle toes. 



Hind toe present. 



Tarsus reticulated on front and back. 



Plumage like that of a Game-bird ; flight like that of a Plover. 



Nest a slight depression in the ground, sometimes lined with a 

 few blades of grass (Durnford). 



Eggs pale stone-colour, very thickly speckled with light and dark 

 chocolate markings. 



Nestling covered with light and dark brown down. 



Cf. Seebohm, Classif. B. p. 37 ; Stejneger, Standard Nat. Hist, 

 p. 92 ; Sharpe, Classif. B. p. 72. 



Key to the Genera *. 



a. Tail rounded ; size larger 1. Attagis, p. 714. 



b. Tail more wedge-shaped ; size smaller .... 2. Thinocords, p. 717. 



1. ATTAGIS. 



Type. 

 Attagis, Less. Sf Isid. Geoffr. St.-Hilaire, Cent. Zool. pi. xlvii. 



(1830) A. gayi. 



Range. Confined to South America. From Peru to Chili, the 

 Straits of Magellan and the Falkland Islands. 



* These two genera appear to me to be scarcely separable. 



