Jerome Henry Kidder

“ Considered as to externals only, we find Chionis minor with the general form of a pigeon, the beak of a crow, surmounted by a sheath declared to be a characteristic of the ostrich family, with stout, knobby, short legs and feet, four-toed like a fowl's, but bare for a little way above the heel like a wading-bird. ”

“ The features of the skull are pretty evenly balanced between those characteristic of the plovers and of the gulls, with a slight sprinkling of the ostrich. The breastbone, a part to which great importance is attached by ornithologists in the determination of affinities, is decidedly like that of the gull family, between which and the plovers, considering only the skeleton, the genus must probably be placed, as De Blainville has already decided. ”

“ Cuvier, [10] on the authority of Vieillot, attributes to the larger species a propensity for carrion, and a power of erecting the horny sheath, neither of which characters was to be found in those which we observed. The Australian species (identical with Chionis alba of Forster [11] ) was named C. necrophaga by Vieillot on this account, but our chionis was one of the very few birds never found feeding on carrion. It was quite omnivorous in its diet, taking with equal readiness bread, vegetables, and fresh meat. ”

“ Even among birds there are at least two species not found elsewhere, one of which, the Chionis minor of Hartlaub, or White Paddy, sheath-bill, and "sore-eyed pigeon" of sealers and whalers, I propose to give a short account of. ”

“ It is a large egg, rather less than a hen's, pointed like a Guinea-fowl's, and marked by streaks and blotches of different shades of brown, which are said to vary much in hue in different specimens.
The sheath-bill is not only "an interesting bird" to know, on account of its trustful and familiar habits, but has been something of a puzzle to ornithologists from the time of its first description, by Forster, in 1788. [12] Up to 1841 his species, C. alba (necrophaga, Vieillot) was the only one known, and has been quite variously classified. ”

“ Had it not been long noted as a favorite breeding-place for the sea-elephant, and hence resorted to by sealers and whalers, it is doubtful whether any human being, other than the intrepid explorers already alluded to, would have cared to visit so desolate and forbidding a spot, until it came to be fixed upon as a locality whence the transit of Venus could advantageously be observed. ”

“ When shut up in this way they bore the confinement very illy, beating themselves constantly against the bars of the cage, and pecking fiercely at the woodwork. They would often stay around the house for several days, however, when let loose, running with our chickens and feeding with them like tame pigeons. ”

“ Its natural tendencies seem to be toward domestication, or at least companionship with man. Like the plants of Kerguelen, it finds its nearest relatives in Patagonia, although Africa is so much less distant. ”

“ These were: a living specimen sent from Cape Town by Mr. Layard, of which the skin was exhibited to the society by Mr. Sclater, November 28, 1867; [5] and two skins received October 26, 1868, [6] also from Mr. Layard. All three of these specimens came originally from the Crozet Islands, which lie about six hundred miles to the west of Kerguelen, and present substantially the same natural history characteristics. An egg was received by the Zoölogical Society [7] in January, 1871, and described by Mr. Alfred Newton as the first of either species of the genus ever known, overlooking Mr. ”