WHITE SHEATHBILL. 
S81 
nostrils, except on the fore part, and descends so low 
on each side of the beak as to hang over part of the 
under mandible ; it is moveable, and may be raised 
upwards, or depressed so as to lay flat on the beak 
itself. The tongue is also singular, being round 
above, flat beneath, and pointed at the end. The 
legs are very stout and short, resembling those of the 
Gallinacea; : the toes are edged with a thick mem- 
brane ; the hinder one is elevated from the ground ; 
and the claws are channelled beneath. 
WHITE SHEATHBILL. 
(Chionis Forsteri.) 
Ch. pemiis toto niveo-albis. 
Sheathbill with the plumage entii'ely snowy-white. 
Vaginalis alba. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 705. 
Vaginalis Chionis. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 774. 
White Sheathbill. Lath. Gen. Syn. 5. 268. joZ. 89. Penn, Gen. 
Birds, JO. 43. 
Varies in length from fifteen to eighteen inches : 
its beak is black at its base ; its appendage or sheath 
yellowish and moveable : the papillae or warts on the 
face extend from the base of the beak beyond the 
eyes, which they surround ; they are of a pale orange 
colour, except a larger one over the eye, which is 
brown or blackish : the entire plumage is of a beau- 
tiful snowy white : knob at the bend of the wings 
blackish : legs bare a short distance above the knees. 
