The Guacharo, or Oil-bird 189 



ancient bird-life, so does another type of bird in South 

 America appear to be entirely separated from any near 

 ally. This is the Guacharo, or Oil-bird (Steatornis 

 cariepensis\ a curious creature which from its appearance 

 and the texture of its plumage would be taken for a 

 sort of Nightjar. Like the latter birds it is crepuscular 

 and comes out to feed at night, and there the semblance 

 ends. The accompanying figure shows the nest of the 



Guacharo, and this, it will be seen, is a hard structure 

 in shape resembling a cheese, and not unlike, as I said 

 before, the nest of a Flamingo. The Guacharo, strictly a 

 bird of the night, breeds only in the darkest caves both on 

 the sea-coast and inland, and it is principally known as an 

 inhabitant of the island of Trinidad, whence the British 

 Museum has received most of its specimens. To procure the 

 nest, my friend, the late Dr. Bevan Rake, had to approach 

 the caves in a boat from the sea, and he not only sent me 

 specimens of the mud-built nest, but some of the young 



