NYCTICHELIDON. 



a groove to receive the hook of the upper mandible 

 The nostrils are linear, placed at some distanc 

 from the base of the bill, nearly closed by a horn} 

 plate, and concealed by the feather of the front. Th 

 tarsi are short, and the feet have four toes, three in 

 front. The internal one is united to the middle a 

 far as the first joint ; but the external is free, am 

 the hind toe is capable of being reversed. The claw 

 are riot very long, but they are hooked and sharp 

 and that of the middle toe is not pectinated. Th 

 first and second quills are shorter than the third anc 

 the fourth is the longest in the wing. 



These birds were unknown as a genus until they 

 were partially investigated by Humboldt in the 

 Andes, and by Horsfield in the eastern continent 

 The species alluded to by the former of these authors 

 is probably the Trinidad goatsucker, of which we have 

 taken some notice ; but the eastern species have been 

 more carefully examined, and their characters are 

 more clearly established. The whole of them are 

 twilight birds, inhabiting caves and the thick shades 

 of tropical forests, which are seldom visited by any 

 human beings except the most savage tribes. Where 

 they live, twilight may be said to reign all day long ; 

 and they rarely come into situations where the air i 



339 



free and the sun bright. They are understood to 

 subsist entirely upon insects, especially moths and 

 beetles of the largest size, which they seize with the 

 beak while upon the wing. Some naturalists, who 

 are perhaps rather fond of tracing what are called 

 affinities, have described these birds as forming an 

 intermediate or connecting link between the goat- 

 suckers and the owls. This relation is not, however, 

 borne out by the habits of the two races. They 

 belong geographically to different departments of the 

 earth ; their prey is different, and they catch it in a 

 different manner. Small mammalia are the proper 

 food of the owls, and they come upon these by stealth, 

 and, of course, always secure them upon the ground. 

 Insects again are the food of the Podargi; and they 

 seize these chiefly on the wing. Those differences of 

 habit very naturally point to corresponding differences 

 of geographical situation. The polar parts of the 

 world are the head-quarters of those small rodent 

 mammalia, upon which owls in great part feed ; and, 

 therefore, according to that law of nature by which 

 the prey and the preyer are invariably brought into 

 juxta-position in the same locality, the polar parts of 

 the world are also the head-quarters of the owls. 

 But the tropical regions are the head-quarters of 

 all insectivorous birds, being the head-quarters of 

 those insects upon which the birds feed. 



Notwithstanding the abundance of insects, chiefly 

 small ones, which are found in the polar forests, 

 and hovering over the polar marshes during the 

 summer, there is not one to be found there during 

 the winter, or in high latitudes, for nearly nine months 

 out of the twelve. There is therefore no permanent 

 place for an insectivorous bird in those high latitudes ; 

 and of course there is not one that remains there, 

 though a few pay their annual visits during the short 

 summer. It is very different in the dark caves and 

 thick damp forests of polar countries. Such places 

 do not feel the scorching heat which brings desola- 

 tion on the dry plains ; they have always heat 

 enough, and also moisture enough, for an abundant 

 production of insects ; and consequently the insecti- 

 vorous birds dwell permanently in them, enjoying a 

 perpetual harvest, and rearing their broods indiscri- 



minately at any time, without the slightest reference 

 to any change of seasons. This is the character of 

 the bird, which is most decidedly marked in the 

 podargi ; and any one who reflects upon the subject, 

 with even a moderate degree of attention, will at 

 once see, that in this there is not the slightest affinity 

 or approach to the character of the owls. It is of great 

 importance to keep in view the geographical tenden- 

 cies of animals ; because, whatever resemblance there 

 may be in the structures of individual parts, we always 

 find that the essential characters of the animal are so 

 closely connected with its geography, that the one 

 may in great part be made an index to the other ; 

 and this is one of the ways in which natural history 

 is made to conduce most essentially to the advance- 

 ment of general knowledge ; a subject of far more 

 consequence than the introduction of any one artifi- 

 cial system, however plausible that system may be, 

 into any single department either of the animal world 

 or of the vegetable. 



We have already remarked, that the natural history 

 of this particular genus of twilight feeders upon 

 insects is very obscure ; and we may add, that it is 

 highly probable that we are not yet acquainted with 

 the half, or probably even the hundredth part of the 



number, so that it is impossible to carry this very 

 curious part of the geographical history of birds to 

 that extent which would be desirable ; we must, 

 consequently, restrict our notices to the one or two 

 species which have been ascertained by competent 

 authorities. 



P. cornutus The horned Podargus. This appears 

 to have been the species found in the woods of Java 

 by Dr. Horsfield. It is a very singular-looking bird, 

 from the great width of its gape, the forward position 

 of the eyes, and the produced feathers with loose 

 and straggling webs, which stick out from the sides 

 of the head. Its upper parts are of a greyish brown 

 colour, mottled with black and white ; the forehead 

 's covered with brown feathers, with shafts terminating 

 ike hairs, and the sides of the head with black feathers, 

 )f which the webs are loose and open, and, though 

 ess produced, bear no inconsiderable resemblanceln 

 heir texture to the feathers on some of the birds of 

 oaradise. What may be the use of such feathers in 

 he economy of the bird is not known, but, as they 

 cover the external openings of the ears, it is not un- 

 ikely that they are, in some way or other, connected 

 rt-ith the sense of hearing. The lower part of the neck is 

 crossed by a white band, and there is a white spot upon 

 he termination of each of the lesser coverts of the 

 A-ings ; the quills are brown, spotted on their outer 

 vebs with dark brown and russet ; the tail-feathers are 

 Iso brown, staged at their extremities, mottled with 

 ilack, marked with eight bars, and the external ones 

 are spotted with reddish white ; the throat is brown, 

 narked with small longitudinal lines ; the centre of 

 he breast is nearly white, marked with a large gorget 

 f brown and black ; the rest of the under parts are 

 vhitish, delicately streaked with lines of black and 

 usset. The length of the bird is about eight inches, 

 nd its weight is but trifling even as compared with 

 ts size. Of its nest-building, or other habits, little or 

 othing is known. In the case of this, as well as of 

 nany other birds which have tufts of produced fea- 

 iers on the sides of the head, the name horned is 

 ery inaptly applied, for in birds these additions to 

 ic head never consist of anything but feathers. 

 P. cinereus, is a New Holland species, the prevail- 



