PODARGI. 



387 



sively inscctivonms, .'iii interesting analogy to the two groups of frugivorous and 

 insectivorous l)ats. 



The name ' oil-bird' is derived from the superabundance of fat in the young birds, 

 from which the natives prepare a colorless and inodorous oil, extensively used instead 

 of butter. 



The characters of the Podaugid.e, so fai' as tliey relate to the p:ilatal structure, 

 have already been pointed out. There remain to be briefly mentioned a few other 

 pec\diarities. Dr. Ph. L. Sclater has ]iublislied the result of the anatomical examin.a- 

 tion tif a PiHlarf/iis, the most important of which are the total ab.sence of the oil <;land, 

 and the presence of a pair of large powder-down jiatches. The latter he describes thus 

 (Fig. 188) : " Two large powder-down patches were discovered, jjlaced on each side of 

 the rump. Each patch consists of about forty feathers, placed in a line e.xtendinf 

 from above the outer end of 

 the root of the rectrices to- 

 wards the femur. Each feather 

 consists of a horny sheath, about 

 0.8 inch in length, of which 0.5 

 is external. At the termination 

 of the sheath the feather pre- 

 sents tlie usual decomposed ap- 

 pearance of powder-down patch- 

 es, being divided entirely into 

 nunu-rous elongated minute fila- 

 Ihents of a dark gray color." 



The external asjiect of the 

 members of this familj- is very 

 much like that of owls and goat- 

 suckers, but the bill is most 

 enormously widened, and the 

 size, especially that of the gi- 

 gantic podargi, is considerably 

 greater than that of the goat-suckers. Their habits, though quite nocturnal, differ 

 considerably from the latter, since their fpod seems to consist mostly of insects -which 

 crawl along the bark of the trees. 



Tiie geographical distribution of the Podargidte is limited to parts of the Oriental 

 and Australian regions, the podargi proper belonging to New Guinea and Australia, 

 while the frog-mouths {Batradtostomus) are confined to southern India, liurnuih, 

 Malacca, and the Moluccan Islands. A species of the latter genus is figured in the 

 accompanying illustration, but their habits seem to be very little known. An inter- 

 esting feature is an aj^p.^rent dichromatism analogous to that of many small owls, 

 some specimens presenting a gray, others a rufous, piiase. 



The Caprimulgid.*:, goat-suckers or night-jars proper, have a long second pectoral 

 muscle, a small oil gland, and after-shafts to the feathers. They are easily divided 

 into two subfamilies: Xyctibiina>, which have the outer toe consisting of five pha- 

 langes, the normal number, a smooth middle claw, and four notches to the hind border 

 of the breastbone, while the C.-iprimulginte have only four jihalangcs in the outer 

 toe, the edge of the middle claw jieclinated, and the sternum with two notches only. 

 Xyctibiiis agrees with the Podargida- in most of the features in which it differs from 



PowderKiown patches of J'odargua. 



