V ° 1X 1 Shufeldt on the Chiom'didtz. IDI 



1893 J 



affinities of the Sheathbill. 1 'It is worthy of mention, too, that 

 in 1S82 Dr. Reichenow 2 placed Chio?iis near Hczmatopus, and 

 Burmeister was of the same opinion. 



Other authors, both early and recent, have held diverse opin- 

 ions as to the affinities of the Chionididae, and we still stand in need 

 of a complete study of the entire structure of Chionis. Thus, for 

 example, Forbes placed the Sheathbill between Dromas and 

 Thinocorus? and Gray between the Thinocoridae and the Haam- 

 atopodidce, 4 while some even, as we are aware, referred the 

 family to the Fowls and others to the Pigeons, Hartlaub being a 

 representative of the former and Swainson of the latter class of 

 writers, but as their views are not supported by a knowledge of 

 the structure of the Sheathbills, we only mention their names 

 here in order to show what different opinions naturalists will 

 entertain when those opinions are based upon the external ap- 

 pearance of things. 



Forbes has not been the only classifier to place Chionis near 

 the Thinocorythidaa, for such a view is quite generally held; 

 Eyton had that idea, and Sclater, already cited above, and Carus, 

 and Sundevall, 5 and Wallace, 6 Lilljeborg, 7 and Fitzinger, 8 and of 

 such an opinion Newton has said that "The little group of very 

 curious birds, having no English name, of the genera Thinocorys 

 and Attagis, which are peculiar to certain localities in South 

 America and its islands, are by some systematists placed in the 

 family Chionididaa and by others in a distinct family Thinocoridaa 

 (more correctly Thinocorythida?. They are undoubtedly limi- 



1 Parker, W. K.— On the Osteology of Gallinaceous Birds and Tinamous. Trans. 

 Zool. Soc. Lond. 1866, V, 5, pp. 206 and 236. 



2 Reichenow, A.— Die Vogel der Zoologischen Garten. I, II. Leipzig, 1882-1884. 



3 Forbes, W. A.— Collected Scientific Papers. 1885. p. 226. 



4 Gray, G. R.— Handlist of Genera and Species of Birds, I, II. 1869-1871. 



5 Sundevall, C. J.— Methodi Naturalis Avium Disponendarum Tentamen. Stock- 

 holm, 1872. 



6 Wallace, A. R.— Attempts at a Natural Arrangement of Birds. Ann. Nat. Hist. (2d 

 ser.), XVIII, 1856, p. 193. 



7 Lilljeborg, W— Outlines of a Systematic Review of the Class Birds. Proc. Zool. 

 Soc, 1866, p. 5. 



8 Fitzinger, L. J.— Ueber des System und die Characteristik dernatiirlichen Familien 

 der Vogel. Sitz. K. Akad. d. Wiss. Math.-Nat. CI. XXI, p. 277 et seq. Vienna, 

 1856-65. 



