330 CAPRIMULCilD*. 



also received eggs from the Bloomfield River and Herbert River Districts, but it does not 

 occur in Southern Queensland or in New South Wales. While collecting on behalf of the 

 Trustees of the Australian Museum, Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robert Grant procured specimens 

 in the neighbourhood of Cairns, and the latter has kindly favoured me with the following notes : — 

 " We found Capyimidgits iiiaci-iivits in the forest country on the coast, also in the pockets on the 

 mountains, and we secured all the specimens as we walked through the forest and flushed them 

 from the ground. We first heard the call of the bird at night, near our camp at Boar Pocket ; 

 it resembles the sound ' chop, chop,' and can only be compared to some person cutting down a 

 tree in the distance, and we tried to locate it, but without success. The following night, a clear 

 moonlight one, I heard the cry come from the same direction, and as I approached the tree a 

 bird flew and I fired, but I did not find it until next morning, when it was useless as a specimen, 

 as it was then partly devoured by ants. Every fine night, but especially when moonlight, the 

 'chop, chop' call of this species could be heard, usually commencing just about dusk and 

 continued at intervals for some length of time. The stomachs of the birds we shot principally 

 contained moths and other insects." 



Mr. J. A. Boyd writes me on the nth September, 1891 : — " Capnimdgus has arrived for the 

 breeding season ;" and in a later conmiunication, " the native name for this bird is ' Tee-ok.' " 



While resident at Ingham, on the Herbert River, North-eastern Queensland, Mr. A. F. 

 Smith wrote me as follows : — " Capvimidgns macruriis seems plentiful judging by the ' knocking ' 

 heard at night, and especially on moonlight nights. I found four nesting sites on the ground, 

 each with two eggs or two young ones. All were near the edge of light scrub, the eggs being 

 deposited on fallen or dead leaves, which they resemble in colour. The young, in down, are also 

 yellowish like the leaves." 



The Large-tailed Nightjar, or Goatsucker, bears a strong resemblance on the upper parts, 

 when the outer tail-feathers are concealed, to the Spotted Nightjar (Eurostopus argiis), but may 

 be easily distinguished by its strong rictal bristles, which must greatly assist this species to 

 capture its prey while on the wing. The members of the families Caprimulgids and Podargidse, 

 are remarkable for their noiseless flight and soft and downy plumage, which is principally moth- 

 like in its markings, and extremely variable in colour. 



The present species makes no nest, but the eggs, two in number for a sitting, are 

 deposited on the bare ground or on fallen leaves in open forest lands, light scrub or clearings in 

 the jungle. They are nearly true ellipses in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and 

 lustrous, and are of a pinkish-stone or a faint reddish-cream ground colour, with almost obsolete 

 spots, blotches and fleecy clouded markings of various shades of faint purplish-brown and light 

 slaty-grey. In some specimens the markings have so washed out an appearance, that they are 

 barely distinguishable from the ground colour. A set of two taken by Mr. J. A. Boyd, at Ripple 

 Creek, Herbert River, on the 19th September, 1894, measure: — Length (A) i-i8 x 0-85 inches; 

 (B) I-2I X 0-87 inches. Another set taken on the 14th November measure: — (A) ri6 x 0-83 

 inches; (B) i-i8 x 0-84 inches. 



O-en-as E"U"I20ST0^"CrS, Gould. 



Eurostopus albigularis. 



WHITE-THROATED NIGHTJAR. 

 Caprhmilgus albogidaris, Vig. and Horsf., Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol. XV., p. 194 (1826). 

 Eurosiopodus alboyularis, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. II., pi. 7 (1848) ; id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., 



Vol. I., p. 96 (186.5); Sharps, Hand-L Bds., Vol. II., p. 80 (1900). 

 Eiirostopus albiyularis, Hartert, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XVI., p. 607 (1892). 



