74 



FISSIROSTRES NOCTURNI. 



SUB-FAMILY III. 



PODAGIUX.E. 



The Podagers. 



Gen. Charac. — Bill much flattened, curved, and compressed at the sides of 

 the tip, which is hooked; the gape is furnished with stiff hairs, as in the 

 Goatsuckers ; the wings are long and pointed, and the tail broad ; the tarsi 

 are more or less plumed, or, when devoid of feathers, covered in front with 

 transverse scales ; the inner toe is generally longer than the outer, and both 

 inner and outer toes are more or less united to the middle one, which is ihe 

 largest of all, and armed with a large serrated claw. 



'"^n^^M.i^^ 





Fig. 29.— golld's podagre. 

 {Foduger Gouhlii.) 



The Podagers are met witli in tlie warmer parts 

 of South. America and Australia^ where they fre- 

 quent fields and moist places^ usually in pairs, 

 although they have sometimes been observed in 

 troops of a hundred together, chasing insects in 

 broad daylight. The female deposits two eggs on 

 the bare ground, without any kind of nest. As an 

 example of the race we have selected — 



Gould's Podager [Podager Gouldii). 



