68 BAH1A BLANCA. [CHAP. v. 



exertions to procure this bird, but never had the good fortune to suc- 

 ceed. Dobrizhoffer * long ago was aware of there being two kinds of 

 ostriches ; he says, " You must know, moreover, that Emus differ iu 

 size and habits in different tracts of land ; for those that inhabit the 

 plains of Buenos Ayres and Tucuman are larger, and have black, white, 

 and grey feathers ; those near to the Strait of Magellan are smaller 

 and more beautiful, for their white feathers are tipped 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 Tino- 

 chorus 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 desolate 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 appearance changes ; the 

 long pointed wings, so different from those in the gallinaceous order, 

 the irregular manner of flight, and plaintive 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 American 

 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 just beneath the snow-line on 

 the Cordillera of Central Chile. A bird of another closely allied genus, 

 Chionis alba, is an inhabitant of the antarctic regions ; it feeds on 

 seaweed and shells on the tidal rocks. Although not web-footed, from 

 some unaccountable 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 difficulties 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. 



The genus Furnarius contains several species, all small birds, living 

 on the ground, and inhabiting open dry countries. In structure they 

 cannot be compared to any European form. Ornithologists have 

 generally included them among the creepers, although opposed to that 

 family in every habit. The best known species is the common oven- 



* "Account of the Abipones," A.D. 1749, vol i. (English translation), p. 314. 



