p. 76.) and proposes (in case, I presume, of his obtaining a specimen at some future time, and thus being able to characterize it,) to call it _Rhea pennata_. A notice of this species was given long since (A.D. 1749) by Dobrizhoffer, in his account of the Abipones (vol. i. Eng. Trans. p. 314). He says, “You must know, moreover, that Emus differ in size and habits in different tracts of land; for those that inhabit the plains of Buenos Ayres and Tucuman are larger, and have black, white, and grey feathers; those near to the Strait of Magellan are smaller, and more beautiful, for their white feathers are tipped with black at the extremity, and their black ones in like manner terminate in white.” Among the Patagonian Indians in the Strait of Magellan, we found a half-bred Indian, who had lived some years with this tribe, but had been born in the northern provinces. I asked him if he had ever heard of the Avestruz Petise? He answered by saying, “Why there are none others in these southern countries.” He informed me that the number of eggs in the nest of the Petise is considerably less than with the other kind, namely, not more than fifteen on an average; but he asserted that more than one female deposited them. At Santa Cruz we saw several of these birds. They were excessively wary: I think they could see a person approaching, when he was so far off as not to distinguish the ostrich. In ascending the river few were seen; but in our quiet and rapid descent, many, in pairs and by fours or fives, were observed. It was remarked by some of the officers, and I think with truth, that this bird did not expand its wings, when first starting at full speed, after the manner of the northern kind. The fact of these ostriches swimming across the river has been mentioned. In conclusion, I may repeat that the _R. Americana_ inhabits the eastern plains of S. America as far as a little south of the Rio Negro, in lat. 41°, and that the _R. Darwinii_ takes its place in Southern Patagonia; the part about the Rio Negro being neutral territory. Wallis saw ostriches at Bachelor’s river (lat 53° 54′), in the Strait of Magellan, which must be the extreme southern possible range of the Petise. ORDER—GRALLATORES. OREOPHILUS TOTANIROSTRIS. _Jard. & Selb._ Oreophilus totanirostris, _Jard. & Selb._ Illustr. of Orn. iii. pl. 151. My specimens were obtained at Maldonado and at Valparaiso. At the former, it was common, feeding on the open grassy plains in small flocks, mingled with the icteri and the thrush-like _Xolmis variegata_. When these birds rise on the wing, they utter a plaintive cry. Legs “crimson red;” toes leaden colour, with their under surface remarkably soft and fleshy. Iris dark brown. CHARADRIUS VIRGININUS. _Borkh._ Charadrius virgininus, _Borkh._ Act. Acad. Cæs. Leop. Car. Nat. Cur. 1834. xvi. pl. 18. Charadrius marmoratus, _Wagl._