3o8 SHEATH-BILLS. 



FAMILY V. 

 THE SHEATH-BILLS. CHIONID/E* 



General Characteristics. — Bill moderate, the culmen much arched to the tip, 

 the sides much compressed ; the nostrils basal, lateral," and protected by a bony 

 covering, or only partly closed by a homy membrane ; the wings long and ])ointed ; 

 the tail moderate ; the tarsi short and strong ; the toes long, and the anterior one^ 

 united at their base, the hind toe short and elevated. 



This is a family containing a few species whose characters arc 

 so curious as to hav^e rendered their position in the ornithological 

 series somewhat doubtful. They have a short and stout bill, which 

 is compressed at the tip and considerably arched. The nostrils 

 are situated at the base of the upper mandible, and protected by 

 a more or less inflated cartilaginous plate, an appendage the use 

 of which is rather obscure. Like the birds of the preceding family, 

 they have long and pointed wings ; their tarsi are of moderate 

 length and thickness, naked and reticulated quite up to the articu- 

 lation, and terminated by four toes, of which the anterior are 

 tolerably long, and the posterior small and slightly elevated upon 

 the back of the tarsus. These singular birds are met with upon 

 the sea-shores of Patagonia, New Zealand, and Australia, and 

 also upon many of the islands of the Antarctic Sea. 



The Chionidai have been classed by various authors, sometimes 

 with the Gallinaceous, and sometimes with the Wading birds ; 

 indeed, the external characters by which they are distinguished 

 seem equally related to either group. In appearance they so 

 much resemble the Rasorial type that they are known to navi- 

 gators by the names of ''South Sea Pigeons" and "Antarctic 

 Hens!'' Forster, however, who first described them, considered 

 them to be waders, a view which seems to be confirmed by the 

 dissections of M. Blainville. Mr. George Robert Gray, whose 

 classification we implicitly follow, nevertheless still retains them 

 among the Gallinacca, placing them between the grouse and the 

 tinamous. 



* XLbvio%, chionios, snoxcy. 



