R4SORES. 881 



In Texas it keeps principally on the prairies. This bird is 

 nine or ten inches long ; the bill is short arid thick, with the 

 upper mandible curved from the base ; the color a reddish 

 brown, varied with black and white. It makes its nest on the 

 ground, and lays from eight to eighteen pure white eggs. As it 

 is timorous and restless in its habits, it is hard to domesticate. 

 Its whistle, in the spring, is thought to resemble the words, Buck- 

 wheat, Bob White. The Quail is caught in large numbers by 

 traps, horse-hair nooses, and nets. 



The CALIFORNIA QUAIL, or PARTRIDGE, O. California, resem- 

 bles the Common Quail, but has a crest, which it can erect or 

 depress at pleasure. (Plate X. fig. 6b.) 



The PTARMIGAN, Lagopus, (Gr. Hare-footed,) albus, inhabits 

 the Northern parts of Europe and America. It has the legs and 

 feet thickly covered with hair-like feathers reaching as far as the 

 claws. (Plate IX. fig. 22.) Like the fur of the Ermine, the 

 plumage changes in winter from an almost tortoise. shell color to 

 a pure white. The length is about fifteen inches. In Norway, 

 the peasants take them in snares. The captured birds "are 

 kept in a frozen state until the dealers come, and one of these 

 will sometimes sell 50,000 Ptarmigans in a season." 



SIXTH FAMILY. SHEATH-BILLS. 

 Chionida, (Gr. %i&v t chion, snow.) 



The birds of this small family inhabit the high mountains or 

 dry plains of South America, or the remotest parts of the South- 

 ern Ocean. They resemble the grouse, but have the nostrils 

 surrounded by a sort of sheath ; hence are called Sheath-bills. 

 The typical genus is Chionis, a term suggested by the snowy 

 white plumage of these birds. They are often found far out at 

 sea, but chiefly inhabit the rocks washed by the tide, feeding on 

 sea-weeds and shells, and have, therefore, been placed by some 

 naturalists among the Wading Birds. The species C. necro- 

 phaga, (Gr. nekros, a dead body ; phago, to eat,) found in New 

 Holland, is about the size of a large partridge. It frequents the 

 sea-shore, and feeds on dead animal matter thrown up by the tide. 

 The Small Sheath-Bill, C. minor, is found on the dreary and iron- 

 bound shores around Cape Horn ; it is about as large as a Lap- 

 wing. This bird feeds on limpets and sea- weeds, not rejecting 

 animal substances thrown upon the shore by the waves. 



