(JOAT-M-1 KK.II-i. 



UOAT 



I LUI 



at Ittbt when in a cUU of captivity." Upon this Mr. Vigors observes 

 that such can be at best but an accidental use to which the serration 

 oan be applied. There are many other groups of birds, he adds, poe- 

 snsaing the same character, to which the same application of it can 

 nerer be amjgned for instance, the greater port of the genus Pete- 

 cm** of Linmouit. Many of those birds, whom feet, Mr Vigors ob- 

 serve*, are naturally ill adapted by their webbed structure for laying 

 hold of any object, are yet fouud to incubate mnong trees, where the 

 errated claw may give them a further power of prehension ; they are 

 aim, he remark*, asserted to seize their prey occasionally with the 

 foot ; In which aoU the structure of the nail, as in the case cited by 

 White impacting the Caprimulgut, may be peculiarly useful " The 

 family of the A rdevta among the wading birds equally exhibit," says 

 Mr. Vigor*, in conclusion, " au analogous construction in the middle 

 nail. Here again thia character seems adapted to their mode of life 

 in enabling them to hold their prey more firmly in those slimy and 

 muddy situations where it might otherwise elude them ; while, at the 

 same time, it may assist their feet (which, like those of the PtUcanidft, 

 are naturally ill suited for grasping) in their hold among the trees, 

 where, like some also of the latter family, they build their nests." 

 Mr. Dillon is of opinion that the chief use of the serrated claw 

 is simply to comb out or dress the vibri&uo which surround the 

 gape. Mr. Swainson opposes thia view, observing that there is an 

 American group of this family which have no bristles round the bill, 

 and yet have the serrated claws ; and another group in Australia 

 which have bristles round the bill, and yet with the claw smooth 

 and simple. He also observes that the Heron tribe have the gape 

 smooth, but the claw serrated. Mr. Renuie remarks that the passage 

 in Wilson "appears to settle the question;" but he gives no satisfac- 

 tory reason why. 



Fialiirm marroplmu (old male). 



The Qoat-Snckrr is sometimes to be feen abroad in gloomy day* ; 

 we hare n it on such day*, anil generally on the ground. On a t're.- 



it is observed to perch not acrom a branch, but on its longitudinal 

 direction. These birds affect tho neighbourhood of oaks, where in 

 May they find the Mclaloniha tulyaru, and at Midsummer the M. sol- 

 slitialii. White graphically describes the evolutions of one round his 

 ' great spreading oak,' where it was hawking after a brood of some 

 particular Pkalttna belonging to that tree. On this occasion he says 

 it exhibited a command of wing superior to the swallow itself. Tho 

 same author states that when a person approaches the haunts of thia 

 species in au evening they continue flying round the head of the 

 obtruder ; and by striking their wing-t together above their backs, in 

 the manner that the pigeons called Sinitera are known to do, make a 

 a short snap ; perhaps at that time, he adds, they are jealous of their 

 young, and their noise and gestures are intended by way of menace. 

 The eggs, two in number, oblong, white or dusky, and streaked some- 

 what like the plumage of the bird, are equal in size at each end, and 

 are laid on the bare ground, generally among fern, heath, or long 

 grass, sometimes in furze-brakes or woods, but always near the latter. 

 Montagu describes the noise made by the male during incubation 

 when perched, and with his head downwards, as not unlike that 

 of a spinning-wheel, and notices its uttering a sharp squeak as 

 it flies. 



The other European species, Caprimulyut ruficollit, which is very 

 rare, has been shot in the oak-woods some miles distant from Alge- 

 ziras, and also in the valley of the Rio del Mel, near that city. The 

 Spanish name for it is Samala. Mr. Gould has no doubt that iu natural 

 habitat is Northern Africa. Prince Bonaparte notes it as occurring 

 in south-western Europe during the summer. 



Mr. Gould has established a new genus for some of the American 

 Caprlmulgi, under the name of Antronlomus. [Wnu'-I'iKiii-Wii.L.] 



Ptalarut (Sw.). Gape strongly bristled. Tail excessively long, and 

 very deeply forked. 



P. macrofteria. A bright ruddy demi-collar ornaments the back 

 part of the neck, and the two external tail-feathers iu tho male arc 

 much longer than the others. The tail of the female is much shorter. 



It is a native of Paraguay and Brazil. 



Cliordeila (Sw.). Gape perfectly smooth. Wings very long, equal 

 to the tail, which is slightly forked. 



C. Americana*. Ground of plumage above, sides of the head, and 

 front of the neck, dark liver-brown, glossed with greenish. Head, 

 neck, and upper rows of lesser wing-coverta, spotted with yellowish- 

 brown; back, scapulars, and tertiaries, mottled with brownish-white 

 and a little wood-brown, the pale colour forming speckled bars on the 

 tail and its coverts ; intermediate wing-coverts more thickly mottled 

 with a purer white : greater coverts spotted with brown on the 

 margin ; baud on middle of quills, beginning on tho inner web of the 

 first and ending with the fifth, and a broad arrow-shaped mark on the 

 throat, pure white. A white dotted superciliary band reaches to the 

 nape. Lateral tail-feathers banded with white. Plumage below and 

 inner wing-coverts barred alternately with brownish-white and liver- 

 brown. Bill blackish. Legs pale. Tail forked. Middle toe, which 

 is longest, with a serrated claw. 



This is the Caprimulgus Americanus of Wilson, and the C. Vinjiiii- 

 anm of Prince Bonaparte, who notices the bird in his ' Geographical 

 and Comparative List,' as Chtrdcila Virginlanut (Bonap.), and 

 Caprimulgiu Pojatvt (Vieill.). It is the Peesquaw of the Cree 

 Indian*. 



Sir John Richardson says that few birds are better known in the 

 Fur Countries than this, which ranges in summer even to the most 

 remote arctic islands. Colonel Sabine notices it, in the appendix to 

 Captain (now Sir Edward) Parry's ' Fir.st Voyage,' as the Musquito 

 Hawk, and states that a female was found on Melville Island, lying 

 dead on the ground about a quarter of a mile from the sea. He adds, 

 that these birds are known to breed and inhabit as far north as 

 Hudson's Bay ; but as they live principally in woods, and feed on 

 musquitoes and other winged insects, which are very rare in the 

 North Georgian Islands, it is more than probable that the individual 

 found dead was an accidental visitor, and hod perished for want of 

 food. It was extremely thin, but the plumage was in good preserva- 

 tion. Fabricius does not mention it, he observes in conclusion, as 

 known in Greenland. Sir John Richardson states that its very peculiar 

 noise is most frequently heard in tho evening, and often seems to be 

 made close to the listener, though the bird that produces it is so high 

 in the air as to be nearly imperceptible. He describes this sound as 

 resembling that produced by the vibration of a tense thick cord iu 

 a violent gust of wind, and says that the Pisk (the common name for 

 the bird) considerably resembles some of the Falconula in its evolu- 

 tions in the air. It often remains stationary, fluttering its wings 

 rapidly, and then suddenly shoots off a long way by a gliding motion : 

 at that moment the loud vibratory noise is heard. " It also traverses 

 the air backwards and forwards, quartering the sky as regularly as the 

 Hen Harrier surveys a piece of ground. The female deposits her eggs 

 on the ground without making any nest, generally selecting the border 

 of a cultivated field or au open glade in the forest, and during incu- 

 bation aits to close that she may be almost trodden down. When any 

 person approaches her the male sallies from the adjacent thicket and 

 stoops at the intruder, passing within a foot or two of hix head, then 

 rising again and wheeling round to repeat the same manoeuvre. In 

 the meanwhile his mate flutters from the nest along the ground as if 



