THE NIGHT-JAB. 127 



principal food appeared to be large night-moths, and in 

 habits they very much resembled the night-jar at home. 



We had a smaller species, which we called the Little 

 Morepoke, a rare and pretty little bird ; the body not 

 much larger than a lark ; the plumage light gray, ticked 

 and barred with black ; the feathers soft, the head much 

 rounder than that of the large morepoke, and the tail 

 long and square. I don't believe it was so very rare 

 with us ; but on account of its size and habits, not often 

 seen ; and it appeared to be very little known among the 

 naturalists here. It was nocturnal in its habits, although 

 the few specimens I killed were by day, as they flew out 

 of a hole in a tree or log. They bred with us, and both 

 species were met with in our forests throughout the 

 year. 



"We had also a real Night-jar, precisely similar to the 

 home bird, which I always used to kill as it rose from 

 the heather, or thick low scrub, in the quail season : it 

 was by no means common, and appeared to be a summer 

 migrant. 



About an hour before sunrise the bushman is awakened 

 by the most discordanb sounds, as if a troop of fiends 

 were shouting, hooping, and laughing round him in one 

 wild chorus ; this is the morning song of the Laughing 

 Jackass, warning his feathered mates that daybreak is at 

 hand. At noon the same wild laugh is heard, and as the 

 sun sinks into the west, it again rings through the forest. 

 I shall never forget the first night I slept in the open 

 bush in this country : it was in the Black Forest. I 



