630 PODAKGIDiE. 



1. PODARGUS. 



Type. 

 Podargus,''_ F/e/Z/. iV. Diet, xxvii. p. 151 (1819; ex 

 " Podarfje," Curie?-, R^gtie Anhn. torn. iv. p. 17'2, 

 pi. iv. fig. 1, 1817) P. strigoides. 



The birds belonging to this genus, like those of the genus Baira- 

 cJiosfomus, have a large powder-down patch on each side of the 

 rump. The remigcs are twentj'-two in number, ten primaries (of 

 ■which three are on the metacarpus) and twelve secondaries. They 

 build a flat nest constructed of dry sticks on the fork of a branch, 

 and lay two white eggs. 



The young are covered with white down. 



All the species are extremely variable in coloration and size. 

 Several authors have described a number of varieties as different 

 species. The study of a large material has led me to distinguish 

 onlj- four species and one subspecies. 



Range. Papuasia, Australia, and Tasmania. 



Key to the Species. 



A. Tail distinctly more than 10 inches in length . . papuenm, p. 6.30. 



B. Tail distinctly less than 10 inches. 



a. Wing more than 9 inches in length stru/oides, p. G31. 



b. Wing less than 9 inches in length. 



(t'. Larger, wing about 8 inches in length .... phalmioides, p. 634. 

 b' . Smaller, wing about 7 to 7*5 inches in length, ocellatus and mar- 



\jnoratus, pp. 634, 635. 



1. Podargus papuensis. 



Podargus papuensis, Quoy et Gaim. T'ot/. Astrolabe, O/.v. pi. xiii. 



(1830); Bp. Consp. i. p. 57 (1850); Gould, B. Atisfr. Suppl. 



pi. vii. (18.55); id. Handb. B. Austr. i. p. 91 (1865); Gray, 



Hand-l. i. p. 64 (1869) ; Ramsay, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 680 (N.E. 



Queensland) ; id. Tab. List Ansfr. B. p. 2 (1888) ; Sahad. Om. 



Papnas. i. p. 513 (1880) ; A. B. Meyer, Zeitschr. yes. Orn. 1884, 



p. 278; S/uape, Jonrn. Linn. Soc., Zool. xiii. p. 493 (1878) ; Forbes, 



P. Z. S. 1878, p. 121 (Cape York, N. Austraha); Tristr. Ibis, 



1889, p. 656. 

 Podargus plumiferus, Goidd, P. Z. S. 1845, p. 104; id. B. Austr. ii. 



pi. vi. (1848) ; id. Handb. B. Austr. i. p. 93 (1865) ; Bp. Consp. 



i. p. 57 (1850) ; Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. B. p. 2 (1888). 



Adult male. Above brownish grey, finely mottled with dark 

 brown and grey, most of the feathers with more or less distinct 

 black shaft-lines, generally broader on the scapulars ; small white 

 or whitish spots on the head and neck, with larger ones on the 

 upper wing-coverts : near the rather uniform shoulder is a more or 

 less distinct whitish stripe : a distinct but narrow whitish super- 

 ciliary stripe ; primaries deep brown or blackish, barred with pale bufl' 

 or pale rufous ; rectrices brown banded with greyish, mottled with 

 brown and blackish ; lower parts lighter, ornamented with large 

 white spots, most of the feathers having two spots of white and 



