OIL-BIRD. 



385 



of placing tl,c poclargi m a family separate from that of the goat-suckers, since with 

 that exception they are very closely aj.proached l.y the South American iV'yc^/i/,,,, 

 which has the palate of a goat-sucker, b„t in other peoliarities in common with the 

 tormer, an.l to Ix- mentione<l farther on, disagree with the latter. 



The peculiarities of the j.tcrylosis of the present super-family have been in.licaterl 

 and 1 ustrated on aj^-evious page (page 370, fig. 173); hence we only remark that the 

 fnst three families have only ten tail-feathers, while the last two possess twelve 



As already intim.ated, the Steat„ux,t„„..., which consists only of a single species, 

 he remarkable o.l-b.rd, is possessed of a certain number of structural features ;hicJ seem 

 to connect tins bir.l with the owls, on one hand, though, on the other, many are so pecu- 

 liar as to make it somewhat doubtful if Professor Garrod was 

 not right in claiming for it a more in.lependcnt position. The 

 sternum has only two notches behind ; the femoro-caudal is 

 absent; the second pectoral muscle is small; tlie syrinx is 

 truly bronchial, as depicted in the accoinpanving fi,nire • 

 the oil gland is very large ; and the contour feathcTs aiv de- 

 prived of an after-shaft. Their bill is also entirely different 

 from that of the other ca|,riinu]goid birds, being much stron<-er 

 more owl-like, and with a narrower gape, fiie color of li,e 

 phimage, a sombre brownish, dotted with white, and blended 

 with dusky markings, reminds one equally of tlie goat-suckers 

 and the owls, indicating a bird of nocturnal habits. Alto- 

 gether it is a bird of a most singular asjiect. 



The oil-bir.l (Steatornis s(eatornig), also called by its ^^a^r ^^, 



South American name Guacharo, was originally discovered no. i87._.Syri«xof s,earor. 

 in 1 , 99 by the celebrated Alexander irumboldt in the caverns ""• '"""' """'• 



near the mission of Caripe (hence it is often called ,S. caripensis), Venezuela. Since 

 then It has been found in several localities in northern South America, lately also in 

 certain districts of Peru, and for some time it h:,. been known to occur in the Island of 

 Innidad, the fauna of which strictly rese.nl,les that of the adjacent mainland, but not 



