94 BAHIA BLANCA. [CHAP. v. 



with black at the extremity, and their black ones in like manner 

 terminate in white." 



A very singular little bird, Tinochorus rumicivorus, is here 

 common : in its habits and general appearance, it nearly equally 

 partakes of the characters, different as they are, of the quail and 

 snipe. The Tinochorus is found in the whole of southern South 

 America, wherever there are sterile plains, or open dry pasture 

 land. It frequents in pairs or small flocks the most desokte 

 places, where scarcely another living creature can exist. Upon 

 being approached they squat close, and then are very difficult to 

 be distinguished from the ground. When feeding they walk 

 rather slowly, with their legs wide apart. They dust themselves 

 in roads and sandy places, and frequent particular spots, where 

 they may be found day after day : like partridges, they take wing 

 in a flock. In all these respects, in the muscular gizzard adapted 

 for vegetable food, in the arched beak and fleshy nostrils, short 

 legs and form of foot, the Tinochorus has a close affinity with 

 quails. But as soon as the bird is seen flying, its whole appear- 

 ance changes ; the long pointed wings, so different from those in 

 the gallinaceous order, the irregular manner of flight, and plain- 

 tive cry uttered at the moment of rising, recal the idea of a 

 snipe. The sportsmen of the Beagle unanimously called it the 

 short-billed snipe. To this genus, or rather to the family of the 

 Waders, its skeleton shows that it is really related. 



The Tinochorus is closely related to some other South Ame- 

 rican birds. Two species of the genus Attagis are in almost 

 every respect ptarmigans in their habits ; one lives in Tierra del 

 Fuego, above the limits of the forest land ; and the other jusi 

 beneath the snow-line on the Cordillera of Central Chile. A 

 bird of another closely allied genus, Chionis alba, is an inha- 

 bitant of the antarctic regions ; it feeds on sea-weed and shells 

 on the tidal rocks. Although not web-footed, from some unac- 

 countable habit, it is frequently met with far out at sea. This 

 small family of birds is one of those which, from its varied rela- 

 tions to other families, although at present offering only difficul- 

 ties to the systematic naturalist, ultimately may assist in revealing 

 the grand scheme, common to the present and past ages, on 

 which organized beings have been created. 



