430 SHEATHBILL. 



GENUS LXXXIX— SHEATHBILL. 



JjILL strong, thick, a little convex; the top of the upper mandible 

 covered with a corneous sheath. 



Nostrils small, just appearing beyond the sheath. 



Tongue round above, flat beneath, and pointed at the end. 



At the bend of the wing a blunt knob. 



Legs stout, gallinaceous, bare a little way above the joint. 



Toes edged with a thick membrane; the middle toe connected to 

 the outer as far as the first joint ; claws channelled beneath. 



WHITE SHEATHBILL.— Pl. clxi. 



Vaginalis Chionis, Ind. Orn. ii. 774. Tern. Man. Ed. ii. Anal. p. cviii. 



Vaginalis alba, Gm. Lin. i. 705. (Chionis Forst.) 



White Sheathbill, Gen. St/n. v. 269. pl. 89. Penn. Indexes frontisp. Nat. Misc. 481. 



SIZE of a large Pigeon ; length as far as eighteen inches. Bill 

 black ; at the base, over the nostrils, a horny appendage, which 

 covers them, except just on the fore part, and descends so low on 

 each side, as to hang over part of the under mandible ; this, however, 

 is movable, and may be raised upwards, or depressed, so as to lie 

 flat on the bill ; round the base, between that and the eyes, and 

 round them, the parts are bare, and covered only with warty 

 excrescences, which are whitish, or pale orange-colour ; over the eye 

 a brown, or blackish one, much larger than the rest, reaching a 

 little behind ; irides dull lead-colour ; the whole of the plumage is 

 pure white ; at the edge of the wing, a little below the bend, a blunt, 

 blackish knob; the legs bare a little above the joint, are two inches 

 long, stout, and reddish : in young birds the tubercles round the 

 eyes are very small, or wholly wanting, instead of which are a few 

 downy feathers. 



