PODARGID^. 



193 



and north to Manipur, Tipper Assam, and Cachar, where this 

 bird is common in August and September only. A specimen is 

 said by Jerdon to have been obtained in the Teesta Valley, Sikhim, 

 and a "large Nightjar, probably this species, has been noticed in 

 the Andaman Islands. The only other locality is the Travancore 

 hills, where specimens were shot by Mr. Bourdillon. The first 

 obtained was regarded by Mr. Hume as distinct on account o£ its 

 small size, but other skins show that there is no constant difference 

 of importance. 



Habits, <^c. Very similar to those of Caprimulgus, except that 

 L. cervinkeps has been found by Major Bingham roosting in caves 

 in the daytime. Hume had suggested the probability of this 

 being the case. This bird appears soon after sundown, according 

 to Blyth and Davison, flying at a considerable height at_ first, 

 then nearer the ground, and capturing the insects on which it 

 feeds. The note is a characteristic full clear trisyllabic whistle, 

 uttered on the wing or from a perch. A single egg, found by 

 Davison on January 10th, was a long cylindrical ovaU creatn- 

 coloured, with irregular blotches of pale lilac-grey, looking as if 

 they were beneath the surface (a common character o£ Capri- 

 mulgine eggs). It measured 1-65 by I'lS. It was laid on the 

 ground in a slight depression, without any nest. 



Suborder PODARGI, 



Athough these birds are distinguished from the Caprimulgi by 

 having a desmognathous palate, no basipterygoid processes nor 

 oil-gland, by the possession of a powder-down patch on each side 

 of the rump, and by widely different nidification, the Frogmouths, 

 as they are called, are generally regarded as much more nearly 

 allied to Nightjars than Swifts are. The sternum has a low keel 

 and a pair of deep incisions on each side of the posterior border. 

 The stomach is muscular. The nest is either built of twigs, or 

 else is a pad or cup of down, leaves, moss, &c. placed on a branch, 

 and the eggs are one or two in number, white and glossless. Young 

 hatched helpless and downy. Habits nocturnal and insectivorous. 



A single family. 



Family PODARGID^. 



Bill large, depressed, extremely broad, much more solid than 

 in Caprimulgidce, curved, and the tip hooked. Base of the bill 

 overhimg by large numbers of bristly feathers, concealing the 

 nostrils, which are narrow slits protected by membrane. 



YOL. III. O 



