AVES CHIONIDID^. 237 



Forster remarked this circumstance ; but since his time other observers, 

 namely, Anderson, Quoy, Gaimard and Lesson (lyianuel d'Ornithologie, 

 tom. II, p. 342) have found that this is not always the case, and they state 

 that they have actually eaten the Chionis. I was not aware of these 

 observations, but independently was much surprised at the extraordinary 

 odour exhaled. We, like voyagers in the Antarctic seas, were struck at 

 the great distance from land at which this bird is found in the open ocean. 

 Its feet are not webbed, its flight is not like that of the pelagic birds, and 

 the contents of its stomach and structure of legs show that it is a coast- 

 feeder. Does it frequent the floating icebergs of the Antarctic Ocean, on 

 which sea-w^eed and other refuse is sometimes cast?" (Darwin, Voyage 

 of the Beagle, Birds, page ii8, 1841.) 



Moseley's account of the habits of Chionarchus minor, as he observed it 

 breeding in Kerguelen, are appended as throwing additional light on the 

 habits of the Sheathbills. 



"On one of the digging excursions I found a nest of the Sheathbill 

 [Chionis minor), and subsequently found several others. The bird has a 

 wide range, corresponding to that of the Kerguelen cabbage, occurring 

 like it in the Prince Edward Islands, the Crozets and Heard Islands. 



"The birds (the 'Paddy' of the sealers) are present everywhere on the 

 coast, and from their extreme tameness and inquisitive habits are always 

 attracting one's attention. A pair or two of them always forms part of 

 any view on the coast. The birds are pure white, about the size of a 

 large pigeon, but with the appearance rather of a fowl. They have light 

 pink-coloured legs, with partial webbing of the toes, small spurs on the 

 inner side of the wings, like the spur-winged plover, and a black bill with 

 a most curious curved lamina of horny matter projecting over the nostrils. 

 Round the eye is a tumid pink ring bare of feathers ; about the head are 

 wattle-like warts. 



"The birds have been examined anatomically by De Blainville, who 

 concluded that they were nearly related to the Oyster-catchers. The 

 birds nest under fallen rocks along the cliffs, often in places where the 

 nest is difficult of access. The nest is made of grass and bents, and the 

 eggs are usually two in number and of the shape of those of the Plovers 

 and of a somewhat similar colouring, spotted dark red and brown. They 

 have been described and figured by Gould, and he considers the eggs to 

 show further alliance of the Sheathbills to the Plovers. I found two nests 



