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Show BAHIA B LAX CA. Aug. 1833. no de great exertions to pro-bI. gny, when at the Rio Neghraod, mthae goo d fortune to s. ucceed. cure this bird, but n~ver l * and proposes (m case, He mentions it in h~s Tr~v~:~ obtained) to call it lV~ea I Presume, of a specimen e . o n lonCT before in Dobnz- Pe~z·tata . was CTIVe o . a fuller notice o t (A D 1749). He says, 1 1 • • h Abiponcs · · · · hoffer's Account of t e r that Emus differ m SI~e "You must know, moreov~ 'l d. for those that inhabit and habits in different tracts o danT~cuman are larger, and the plains of Buenos Ayres anfeathers; those near to t~e have black, white, and grlaly d more beautiful, for their ' 11 sma er an . d Strait of Mage an ~re 'th black at the extremity, an white feathers are tipped WI t minate in whi. te., h . black ones in like manner er d 'bed by St. Hilaire t eu . l bird lately escn . . . A very singular htt e ' f T' horus Eschscholtzzz, IS th name o moe and Lesson under . eh bits eneral appearance, and struc-here common. In Its a ' gk of the character of a lly parta es . ture, it nearly equay th two birds are Widely con- . e et ese l 1,he quail and a smp . £ their beaks, wings, and egs. ·h trasted in the form o . the whole of southern Sout Tinochorus is formd h m are sterile plains, or ope_n d';; America, wherever t ere. £ south as the mlan ture-land. W e saw It as ar . 1 t 50o On t 1l e pas · . S t Cruz m a · · plains of Patagoma ;t d-~:: near 'concepcion, where t~e western side of the or I ntry this bird is faun : forest land changes m· to a1n otp eCnh ciloeu as ' far as Copl· apo/ , · t I from that point throug lOU laces' where scarcely anot~er frequents the most de~olateT~ey a;e found either in paus living creature can exist. . . but near the Sierra Ventan~ I or small flocks of fiv~ or SIX' f t together. Upon bemg saw as many as thuty or or y h R' Negro we h ear d much of the inde• Vol. ii., p. 76.-~hen at t. e 10 D' Aicide D'Orbigny, during ~he r. . bl labours of this naturalist. M. . f South Amel'lca, 1atiga e 1 large portwns o f ears 1826 to 1833, traversed severa )' l 'n the results on a scale o y d has made a collection, and is no": p~b IShll l' t of Amrrican travellers amna gm.f icence, wu,_J. c h at once places him m t e lS second only to Humboldt. . 14 t Vol. i. (English translatiOn), P · 3 · Aug. 1833. ORNITHOLOGY, Ill approached they squat close, and then are very difficult to be distinguished; so that they often rise quite unexpectedly. When feeding they walk rather slowly, with their legs wide apart. They dust themselves in roads and sandy places. They frequent particular spots, and may be found there day after day. When a pair are together, if one is shot the other seldom rises ; for these birds, like partridges, only take wing in a flock. In all these respects, in the muscular gizzard adapted for vegetable food, in the arched beak an.d fleshy nostrils, short legs and form of foot, the Tinochorus has a close affinity with quails. But directly the bird is seen flying, one's opinion is changed; the long, pointed wings, so different from those in the gallinaceous order, the irregular manner of flight, and plaintive cry uttered at the moment of rising, recal the idea of a snipe. The sportsmen of the Beagle unanimously called it the shortbilled snipe. To this genus, or rather to that of the sandpiper, it approaches, as Mr. Gould informs me, in the shape of its wing, the length of the scapulars, the form of the tail, which closely resembles that of 1'ringa lzypoleucos, and in the general colour of the plumage. The male bird, however, has a black mark on its breast, in the form of a yoke, which may be compared to the horseshoe on the breast of the English partridge. The nest is said to be placed on the borders of lakes, although the bird itself is an inhabitant of the parched desert. The Tinochorus is closely related to some other South American birds. Two species of the genus Attagis, are in almost every respect ptarmigans in their habits; one in Tierra del Fuego, above the limits of forest land ; the other just beneath the snow line on the Cordillera of Central Chile. A bird of another closely-allied genus, Cltionis alba, which solitary species was long thought to form a family by itself, is an inhabitant of the antarctic regions; it feeds on sea-weed and shells on the tidal rocks. Although not webfooted, from some unaccountable taste it is frequently met with far out at sea. This small family of birds is one of |