CHIONIS MINOK. 6 



for an hour or more, and saw no sign of any power of erecting the horny- 

 sheath, attributed to them by Cuvier. They run with great rapidity 

 upon the rocks, avoiding the little pools left by the tide, and seem dis- 

 inclined to flight. When flying, they have a peculiar note, strongly 

 suggestive of the "chat" of the common blackbird. The call at rest is 

 a short rattling croak. I could not see that they ate or sought for any 

 other food than a soft green sea- weed, which they stripped up with 

 their bills, shaking the water out with a rapid flirting motion. I have, 

 however, found in their stomachs the beaks of cephalopods, together 

 with vegetable matter j and some that we afterward partially domesti- 

 cated ate greedily of fresh meat. One that was kept for some time on 

 the Monongahela showed a strong penchant for eggs, breaking the shells 

 with its beak as if the operation were no novelty to it. On no occa- 

 sion, however, did I observe any sign of the carrion-feeding propensity 

 which has given a name to the Australian species {C. necrophaga, Vieill.). 

 On the evening of December ]4, after skinning a sea-elephant, I went 

 down at dusk to watch some other birds feeding on its carcass, already 

 beginning to putrefy. A CMonis flew by, alighted near at hand, and, 

 after a short time, moved on without going up to the carcass, although 

 the latter w8iS nearly covered with sea-birds. 



On the occasion first mentioned, after watching the birds for a time, I 

 shot four specimens, not without compunction on account of killing such 

 trustful acquaintances. When I walked off to get a sufficient distance 

 away for a shot, the whole troop started to follow me, making little runs 

 and stopping, as if filled with curiosity. I shot all four without moving 

 from the spot, reloading for each, the birds not all flying out of range 

 even after the gun had been fired. On subsequent occasions, various 

 members of the party captured specimens by hand ; all that was neces- 

 sary to attract them within reach being to remain perfectly still. After 

 one had been caught, it served as a lure for others. When taken home 

 alive, they still showed no fear, but, when let loose in the house, took food 

 readily, and, oddly enough, fought fiercely among themselves, using 

 only their bills, however, and not the wing-spurs. None of us ever saw 

 them fighting in the open air. When confined in a coop, they cluck and 

 peck at the wood-work so like domestic fowls that I once arose in the 

 night to shut the kitchen-door, supposing that the chickens, of which we 

 had several, had come into the house. Although seemingly absolutely 

 without fear, the specimens that we tried to domesticate bore confine- 

 ment very illy, constantly boating themselves, during the day, against the 



