304 Zoological Society : — 



bring forward some simple drawings and descriptions, such as shall 

 enable any one to judge for himself to what type -these birds really 

 do belong. 



"I intend moreover in my larger paper to consider the relationships 

 of Oreophasis Derbianus. 



" But the birds hitherto mentioned are all easily referred to their 

 proper zoological position ; those, however, of which it is my prin- 

 cipal business to speak stand just above the Struthionidce, in such 

 a doubtful position that it is at first hard to say whether they have 

 declared for any one of the families by which they are surrounded. 



" The Sand-Grouse, the Hemipodes, and the Tinamous have in 

 their composition such a mixture of characters, that they seem to be 

 the very birds which might in the lapse of ages, through climatal 

 change, a different diet, ' the struggle for existence,' and ' natural 

 selection,' give rise to such divaricating and dissimilar types as the 

 Pigeons, the Gallinaceous birds, and the Plovers. 



" These last-mentioned families are those the characters of which 

 the osculant forms under consideration most affect, with, let it be 

 remembered, a more or less broad struthious basis. 



" There are other genera, however, the osteology of which I long 

 to know, viz. Thinocorus, Attagis, and Chionis. 



" Speaking of these birds, Mr. Darwin, in his most pleasant 

 'Journal' (ch. 5. p. 94), makes the following remarks: — 



" 'This small family of birds is one of those which, from its varied 

 relations to other families, although at present offering only diffi- 

 culties 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.' 



" Thinocorus rumicivorus partakes, according to this excellent 

 author, ' of the characters, different as they are, of the Quail and the 

 Snipe' (ibid. p. 94). 



"As to the Attagis, Mr. Darwin says (p. 94), 'The two species 

 of this genus are in almost every respect Ptarmigans in their habits ; ' 

 and of Chionis alba, that it * is an inhabitant of the Antarctic re- 

 gions,' that ' it feeds on sea-weed and shells on the tidal rocks,' and 

 that, ' although not web-footed, from some unaccountable habit, it is 

 frequently met with far out at sea' (ibid. p. 94). 



" Will some lover of ornithology be on the look-out to procure 

 something more than the skins of the birds of these three genera ? * 



" It would tend towards our knowledge of the meaning of these 

 birds of mixed character and osculant relationship, if we knew how 

 long each type has been on the planet ; for if our Fowls and Pea- 

 cocks, Doves and Gouras, are really comparatively new importations 

 to the • green earth,' then there would be some colour and life in 

 ' Darwinism,' and the Ostriches, Tinamous, and Sand- Grouse might 

 be looked upon as a remnant of the ' flint-folk ' of the bird-class. 



" It is, however, almost impossible for the most devout believer in 

 separate creations to keep this idea of ' ancestral relationship ' alto- 



* There is a skeleton of Chionis, I find, in the British Museum. 



