318 



GEOGRAPHICAL ZOOLOGY. 



[PART iv. 



FAMILY 70. IRRISOKID^E. (1 Genus, 12 Species.) 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Irrisors are birds of generally metallic plumage, which 

 have often been placed with the Epjffiachidae and near the Sun- 

 birds, or Birds of Paradise, but which are undoubtedly allied to 

 the Hoopoes. They are strictly confined to the continent of 

 Africa, ranging from Abyssinia to the west coast, and southward 

 to the Cape Colony. They have been divided into several sub- 

 genera which it is not necessary here to notice (Plate IV. Vol. L 

 p. 261). 



FAMILY 71. POD ARGID^E. (3 Genera, 20 Species.) 

 GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Podargidse, or Frog-mouths, are a family of rather large- 

 sized nocturnal insectivorous birds, closely allied to the Goat- 

 suckers, but distinguished by their generally thicker bills, and 

 especially by hunting for their food on trees OT on the ground, 

 instead of seizing it on the wing. They abound most in the Austra- 

 lian region, but one genus extends over a large part of the Oriental 

 region. The following are the genera with their distribution : 



Podargus (10 sp.), Australia, Tasmania, and the Papuan 

 Islands (Plate XII. Vol. I. p. 441) ; BatracJiostomus (6 sp.), the 

 Oriental region (excluding Philippine Islands and China) and 

 the northern Moluccas ; JEgotheles (4 sp.), Australia, Tasmania, 

 and Papuan Islands. 



