404 



BIRDS. CHIOXIDID.B. 



hinder toe. The Crowned Partridge is about ten 

 inches in length, and of a green colour, with steel- 

 blue and purple tints on the head and lower surface ; 

 the wings are brown, and the crown of the head is 

 adorned with an ample crest of orange-red hair-like 

 feathers, at the base of which there is a white band. 

 This bird inhabits the forests of Java, Sumatra, and 

 Malacca, avoiding the plains, and concealing itself in 

 the deepest thickets. 



FAMILY V. PTEROCLLD^E. 



The birds forming the present small family were 

 long placed with the Tetraonidae, from which, how- 

 ever, they differ in several important particulars. They 

 have long pointed wings, indicating a much greater 

 power of flight than prevails amongst the Tetraonidae, 

 or, indeed, in any other group of gallinaceous birds ; 

 their tails are also elongated and pointed, and in some 

 species the two middle feathers are much prolonged. 

 The bill is nearly straight, the tarsi are elongated and 

 clothed in front with short, downy feathers; the hinder 

 toe is quite rudimentary, and placed high up on the 

 back of the tarsus, and the three anterior toes are short 

 and broai The Pteroclidse live in the sandy deserts 

 of the hot regions of Africa and Asia, over which they 

 wander to great distances in large flocks. They are 

 generally seen in the vicinity of springs and streams, 

 and hence their appearance is welcomed by travellers 

 in the desert as evidence of the proximity of water. 

 Like the partridges, they pair, and the female deposits 

 about four or five eggs. 



THE BANDED SAND-GBOUSE (Pterocles arenarius), 

 which is most abundant in Northern Africa, is also 

 met with in the vast plains of the south of Russia, and 

 individuals, probably stragglers from either of these 

 localities, have been killed in various parts of Southern 

 Europe. The general colour of this bird is yellowish- 

 brown mixed with gray, and banded with brownish- 

 black on the upper surface ; the male has the belly, a 

 band across the lower part of the breast, and a patch 

 on the throat, brownish-black; in the female, the 

 plumage is paler beneath, and the throat bears a gray 

 patch. The length of the bird is from twelve to four- 

 teen inches. The nest of this species is made amongst 

 stunted bushes and herbage, and the number of eggs 

 is said to be only four or five. Its food consists of 

 insects and seeds. 



THE PIN-TAILED SAND-GBOUSE (Pterocles akhata) 

 has a much stouter bill than the preceding, and the 

 central tail-feathers are greatly elongated. Its plumage 

 is variegated with olive, yellowish, and reddish tints, 

 and with black; the belly is white, and the breast 

 bears a fulvous crescent edged with black ; the tail is 

 banded with brown. The length of the bird is about 

 fourteen inches. This species is found not only in 

 Africa and Asia Minor, but also in Southern Europe, 

 principally in Spain and the Landes of France. In its 

 habits it resembles the preceding species. 



PALLAS' SAND-GBOUSE (Syrrhaptes paradoxus) is 

 a singular species, inhabiting the central parts of Asia, 

 where it was discovered by the celebrated traveller, 

 Pallas. The structure of the feet is very remarkable; 



the tarsi are short and thick, and entirely clothed with 

 minute feathers ; the hinder toe is entirely wanting, 

 and the anterior ones excessively short. The male has 

 the two centre feathers of the pointed tail produced and 

 filiform, as also the first primary feather in each wing ; 

 these peculiarities are absent in the female, which, in 

 other respects, closely resembles her partner. The 

 length varies from about nine to eleven inches. This 

 bird walks very badly, but flies well. It lives on the 

 barren steppes of Bucharia and Tartary, where it feeds 

 on the seeds which it finds amongst the sand. Its nest 

 is placed among stones, or under the shelter of some 

 stunted shrub, and composed of a few stalks of grass. 

 The eggs are said to be four in number. 



FAMILY VI. CHIONlDDXffi. 



This is another family containing a few species 

 whose characters are so curious as to have rendered 

 their position in the system somewhat doubtful. They 

 have a short and stout bill, which is compressed at the 

 tip and considerably arched ; the nostrils are situated 

 at the base of the upper mandible, and protected by a 

 more or less inflated cartilaginous plate. Like the 

 birds of the preceding family, they have long and 

 pointed wings ; their tarsi are of moderate length and 

 thickness, naked and reticulated quite up to the articu- 

 lation, and terminated by four toes, of which the 

 anterior are tolerably long, and the posterior one small, 

 and slightly elevated upon the back of the tarsus. 

 These singular birds are met with upon the sea 

 shores of the southern parts of America, and upon 

 those of New Zealand, Australia, and other islands in 

 the great southern ocean. 



THE WHITE SHEATHBILL (Chionis alba) Plate 

 20, fig. 78 has the basal half of the upper mandible 

 surrounded by a horny sheath of peculiar construction, 

 beneath which the nostrils open ; its cheeks are naked 

 and yellowish, and furnished with wattles of the same 

 colour ; its plumage is white, as is also its bill, and its 

 feet are reddish-black. Its length is about fifteen 

 inches. This bird is met with upon the shores of 

 Patagonia, New Zealand, and Australia, and also upon 

 many of the -islands of the Antarctic seas. It is a 

 solitary and shy bird, which dwells amongst the rocks 

 of the sea-shore, and feeds upon the mollusca and 

 other small marine animals which it can pick up there. 

 According to some writers it also devours carrion, but 

 this does not appear to be a general habit with it, and 

 several travellers describe its flesh as being very good. 



D'OBBIGNY'S THINOCOBE (TMnocorus Orbigny- 

 anus). This bird, which with two or three other 

 species, resides in the littoral districts of Chili, differs 

 from the preceding in the greater comparative length 

 and slenderness of the tarsi, and in the absence of the 

 peculiar sheath at the base of the bill, and of the naked 

 carunculated space on the cheeks. It greatly resem- 

 bles a small snipe. These birds live in small troops in 

 the valleys between the mountains of Chili, frequent- 

 ing the most desert spots, and feeding upon plants, 

 roots, and insects. They nidificate on the ground. 



LATBEILLE'S ATTAGIS (Attagis Latreillei), another 

 Chilian species, is about the size of a quail, and in its 



