88 NATURAL HISTORY OF KERGUELE'J ISLAND. 



Since M. deBlainville relied iilmnst entirely upon the olinriicliers of 

 the sternal apparatus* in tlie classificatiou of birds, it is not strange 

 that he should have found in their resemblance to those of Hccmntopvs 

 conclusive evidence of natural affinity. The errors of omission and 

 of observation in the above summary (which, it must be acknowledged, 

 are not to be found in the description of those parts seen by De Blain- 

 ville himself) will be discussed hereafter in their proper connection. 



In his continuation of Bonnaterre's " Tcibleau encyclopediqne et me- 

 thodiqued'Ornithologie" (pp. 1037,1038), M. L. P. Vieillot speaks of the 

 Made button on the wing, and describes the sheath of the bill as some- 

 times yellow, sometimes hlaclc. It would thus appear that CJiionis minor 

 Avas known and had been examined long l)efore Hartlaub differentiated 

 the species; this black color of the epidermal outgrowths being one of 

 the principal specific features of his diagnosis, Bonnaterre's (irst men- 

 tion of the genus (as genus 83 of his list, p. cxiij) gives no points lo 

 indicate whether he was describing C. alba or C. minor. 



In 1867 Mr.E. L. Layard, writing to the Ibist from Cape Town, ni:der 

 date of June W^| mentions several specimens of 0. minor brought alive 

 to the Cape from the Crozet Islands by Captain Armson. "A single 

 egg obtained by him was unfortunately attacked by mice on board; 

 but enough remains to show its contour and color. The instant I saw 

 it I was reminded of the eggs of Ewmatoptis.''^ He describes the egg 

 at some length, and of the living bird says : " He is most Hcematopm- 

 like in his motions, moving with great swiftness, and feeding on meat, 

 which he holds down between his feet and tears into shreds. He is 

 very fearless, and attacked the cats which came near him. The legs 

 are livid brown [!], bill black, with a pink cere around the eye, the iris 

 of which is deep black or dark brown in color." 



On the 2Sth of November, 18G7,| Dr. P. L. Sclater exhibited to the 

 Zoological Society a skin of Chionis minor, "being that of an individual 

 of this species which had been transmitted living to the society by E. 

 L. Layard, and brought from the Crozet Islands by Captain Armson." 

 This was doubtless the same individual referred to by Mr. Layard in 

 the passage just quoted. 



* A ces 616men8 les phis importans d'une Evaluation un peu posirive des rapports 

 natarels de cet oiseau {puisque fai montre, dcpuis long-temps, que Vappareil sternal, avec ^ 

 ses annexes, les renferme dans cet classe d'animanx) j'ai pu joindre qnelques d6tail8 

 d'orsanizatioa int^rieure, etc." (Op. cit., p. 99.) 



t Ibis, 1867, p. 458. 



t Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867. 



