1862.] or PTEROCLKS, SYRRHAPTES, AND TINAMUS. 257 



" '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 tvi^o 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- 

 gether out of his mind when considering such birds as those we. are 

 speaking of: at any rate, dogmatism on either side, on a subject so 

 far beyond the reach of our feeble faculties and limited knowledge, 

 has in it something of profanity. I have, up to this time, only been 

 able to get a sight of the skeletons of Pt erodes arenariiis (see Osteol. 

 Cat. Mus. Coll. Chir. vol. i. p. 273, No. 1421), of Ilemipodius varius 

 (ibid. p. 274, No. 1423), of a specimen of an undetermined species 

 of Hemipodius (which died soon after its arrival at the Gardens, and 

 was lent to me by Mr. Gerrard), and of a Syn'kajJtes paradoxus 

 and a Tinamus robustus, for which I am indebted to the Council of 

 this Society. 



" I shall now merely indicate the curious composition, so to speak, 

 of these birds, and begin with that of the Sand-Grouse. 



" These beautiful and gentle birds are seen at once to have in them 

 something both of the Ptarmigan and the Pigeon ; but there is in 

 their physiognomy a marked inferiority of expression, quite in con- 

 trast with the sharp, intelligent look of the typical Fowls, and very 

 much belov/ what we see in the Pigeon-tribe. 



" This is exactly in harmony with what the skeleton reveals ; for 

 whilst the characters of both these types are almost inextricably 

 mterwoven, yet there is in many points a marked inferiority of cha- 

 racter — a less degree of elevation above the Struthious style of struc- 

 ture. What there is of the Bustard {Otis) in them (which Pro- 



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

 Proc. Zool. Soc.-~18G2, No. XVII. 



