WHITE-THROATED NIGHTJAR, 161 



CHAPTER CXLIV. 



WHITE-THROATED NIGHTJAR. 

 (Eurostopus albigularis, Vigors and Horsfield.) 



This is a splendid bird, feeding exclusively on insects. ^ 

 The male (see plate) is much like the female, but the 

 latter is somewhat larger, and a trifle lighter in colour. 



The egg illustrated is also a little larger than the natural 

 size, and is deposited on the bare ground without a covering 

 of any kind. I once found a very fine specimen of this 

 rare egg near Briagolong, in Gippsland. The egg was out 

 in an open space in lightly -timbered forest country. I am 

 of the opinion that many of the eggs so deposited are 

 destroyed by foxes, iguanas, and snakes, as the birds 

 themselves are not rare. 



That celebrated ornithologist, Gould, says, " During my 

 visit to Australia, I had frequent opportunities of observing 

 this species. How far it may range over the Australian 

 continent is not known. I have seen specimens in col- 

 lections formed at Moreton Bay, Queensland, and I have 

 killed three or four individuals of an evening on the cleared 

 land of the Upper Hunter, which shows that it is far from 

 being a scarce bird in New South Wales. In all proba- 

 bility, it is only a summer visitor to the colonies, for it 

 was at this season that I observed it. In the daytime it 

 sleeps on the ground, or on some dry knoll or open part of 

 the forest, and as twilight approaches sallies forth through 

 the open glades and small plains or cleared land>. in search 

 of insects. Its flight, which is much more powerful than 

 that of any other species of the family that I have seen, 

 enables it to pass through the air with great rapidity, and 

 to mount up and dart down almost at right angles, when- 

 ever an insect comes within range of its eye, which is so 



