ATTAGIS MALOUINUS 131 



AttagiS malOTlinUS, Abbott, ibis, p. 154, 1861 ; Sharpe, Gat. Birds 



Brit. Mus., xxiv, p. 716, 1896, 

 Attagis maluina, Oustaht, Miss. Sd. Gap Horn, Ois., p. 107, 1891. 



Habitat. — Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego ; the Falkland Islands. 



? , Cheena Creek Settlement, lltli N"ov. ; ? ? , 14tli Nov., 1904. 



Iris — light brown ; bill — drab ; legs and feet — pale fawn, varying almost to 

 silver grey. 



Of all the birds in Tierra del Fuego Attagis interested me 

 most, whether from the naturalist's or sportsman's point of view. 

 As the name implies, this species was originally described from 

 the Falkland Islands. 



The British Museum possesses a series of eight, several of 

 which are from Hermite Island. 



My Tierra del Fuego examples are distinctly more black and 

 less rufous than any in the British Museum. They are also 

 larger. In the Catalogue of Birds, the recorded measurements 

 for the male are : — Length 11*0, culmen 0"6, wing 5"9, tarsus 

 0*75, tail 2*1 inches. 



My three females measure : — 

 Length 11*5, culmen 0*7, wing 6*5, tarsus 0"8, tail 3.0 inches. 

 „ 11-2, „ 0-65, „ 6-8, „ 0-85, „ 2-9 „ 

 „ 10-5, „ 0-65, ,, 6-8, „ 0-85, „ 2-9 „ 



Previous observers have variously named Attagis a Quail, 

 a Grouse, a Partridge, and an Ortyx. It has since been 

 relegated to the Limicolee, which it resembles in the structure 

 of the sternum, furcula, and pelvis. Outwardly, on the other 

 hand, it is a game bird, not only in general appearance, but in 

 haunts, habits, and food. It has also the crop of a gallinaceous 

 bird. 



Attagis has the wildest haunt of any land bird in these 

 regions, for which reason comparatively few expeditions record 

 it, and little or nothing has been written of its life history. 



The " Quail of a large and peculiar species," mentioned 

 by Fitzroy in the " Beagle " in 1830 as occurring at Cape 



