128 Mr. P. R. Lowe 07i the 



are due to tonic contraction of the orbicularis as a light- 

 reflex act/' 



I have examined the margins of the lids in certain 

 Passeres (embryonic or just hatched), and, as Dr. Wood 

 states, there does uot ap))ear to be any signs in the epithelial 

 covering of these margins pointing to any organic union. 

 It would appear, therefore, that we cannot predict from a 

 mere inspection of the embryonic avian eye whether its 

 possessor will or will not be '^ blind " in the first days of its 

 existence after hatching. 



Eagle Clarke (/. c.) also states that *' the newly-hatched 

 young (of Chionis alba) are clad in brown down with con- 

 spicuous bare patches'^ (italics mine). Possibly these bare 

 patches were only evident before the down had thoroughly 

 dried out after hatching ; for in a chick which I took out of 

 spirit (see above), and which had been either on the point 

 of hatching or only just hatched, no bare patches were 

 evident after the down had dried, although, before this took 

 place, bare apteria, devoid of any sort of downy feathering, 

 were evident. 



I mention this because, from the various accounts of 

 the nestlings which I have read, with the exception of 

 Prof. Studer's, just alluded to, it does not appear clear 

 whether or no the chick is nidicolous or nidifugous. If the 

 Sheath-bill is a pure and simple Limicoline bird, one would 

 expect it to be nidifugous ; if, on the other hand, it is 

 partly Larine, it might be for some time nidicolous. The 

 chick of Dromas, a form which presents several Larine 

 characters, is, for instance, nidicolous, but this may be due 

 to force of environment. From remarks made by Menegaux 

 in his report on the Birds of the French Antarctic Expe- 

 dition (Exped. Autarct. Francaise, 1903-5), it would appear, 

 by inference, that the chick stays for a long time in the 

 nest. 



Eagle Clarke (I. c.) states that ^' Sheath-bills were seen to 

 revel in garbage of every description, including the excre- 

 ment and placentae of seals. They are well known to be 

 very fond of the eggs of Penguins and Shags, which they 



