94 BAHIA BLANCA. [cHap. Vv. 
with black at the extremity, and their black ones in like manner 
terminate in white.” 
A very singular little bird, Tinochorus rumicivorus, is here 
common: in its habits and general appearance, it nearly equally 
partakes of the characters, different as they are, of the quail and 
snipe. The Tinochorus is found in the whole of southern South 
America, wherever there are sterile plains, or open dry pasture 
land. It frequents in pairs or small flocks the most desolate 
places, where scarcely another living creature can exist. Upon 
being approached they squat close, and then are very difficult to 
be distinguished from the ground. When feeding they walk 
rather slowly, with their legs wide apart. They dust themselves 
in roads and sandy places, and frequent particular spots, where 
they may be found day after day: like partridges, they take wing 
in a flock. In all these respects, in the muscular gizzard adapted 
for vegetable food, in the arched beak and fleshy nostrils, ‘short 
legs and form of foot, the Tinochorus has a close affinity with 
quails. But as soon as the bird is seen flying, its whole appear- 
ance changes ; the long pointed wings, so different from those in 
the gallinaceous order, the irregular manner of flight, and plain- 
tive ery uttered at the moment of rising, recal the idea of a 
snipe. The sportsmen of the Beagle unanimously called it the 
short-billed snipe. To this genus, or rather to the family of the 
Waders, its skeleton shows that it is really related. 
The Tinochorus is closely related to some other South Ame- 
rican birds. Two species of the genus Attagis are in almost 
every respect ptarmigans in their habits; one lives in Tierra del 
Fuego, above the limits of the forest land; and the other just 
beneath the snow-line on the Cordillera of Central Chile. A 
bird of another closely allied genus, Chionis alba, is an inha- 
bitant of the antarctic regions; it feeds on sea-weed and shells 
on the tidal rocks. Although not web-footed, from some unac- 
countable habit, it is frequently met with far out at sea. This 
small family of birds is one of those which, from its varied rela- 
tions to other families, although at present offering only difficul- 
ties 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. 
