CAPRIMULGIM; AND OWLS 



They have enormous mouths, which are carried agape 

 in their flight and catch innumerable insects. The bill 

 is small, since it is not needed as an assistance to feeding 

 or fighting, the two principal occupations of the " lower " 

 animals. The plumage of Podargus is, as is that of other 

 goatsuckers, a soft mixture of browns and greys, a 

 " crepuscular " hue, in fact, which assorts well with a 

 nocturnal life. The " More-Pork " looks something 

 like a caricature of a bird by Lear. Its head is enor- 

 mous, and its body shrunken. A pair of large yellow 

 eyes complete a picture which is ludicrous. One speci- 

 men at the Zoo was fed with new-born mice, which were 

 gulped with ease down its huge throat. In Australia 

 it feeds on insects. The proper name of this bird 

 appears to be Podargus strigoides, and the name is 

 suggestive of the resemblances of the bird. Since the 

 owls have been by almost universal consent divorced 

 from the hawks, their likeness to the goatsucker tribe 

 has been all the more commented upon. They have the 

 same retiring shades of browns in their plumage, they 

 fly softly like aerial Agags or moths, and they are noc- 

 turnal. All this, of course, is hardly enough to prove 

 a close alliance. But the facts may be slight indications 

 which will be confirmed by later studies of the birds. 

 It is curious, too, and not unsuggestive, that in New 

 Zealand the name " More-Pork " is applied to an owl. 

 Our bird is naturally considered to be a bird of ill-omen 

 on account of its really ghastly looks, and its habit of 

 sitting upon tombstones confirms the popular view. 

 Its near ally, the oil-bird, or guacharo, of South America, 

 shares its ill-omened reputation, which is enhanced by 

 a living in caves. The Podargus is remarkable among 

 goatsuckers for building a nest on branches. The others 

 l a y e gg s n the ground. The tribe generally does not 

 lend itself to confinement, and it is unlikely that the 

 visitor will meet with more than one example of the 



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