52 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



the mere thought of such things was soothing. I never 

 heard this species utter the jarring "churr" of the 

 English Night-Jar. 1 It is singular that in many parts 

 of the world sinister habits are attributed to the Night- 

 Jar. In England the bird has been accused of sucking 

 the udders of cattle and goats, as its alternative name, 

 the Goat-Sucker, signifies. The more Rabelaisian fancy 

 of the Malay charges the bird with attacks on human 

 beings, which for modesty's sake I dare not specify 

 further. 



That curious bird, the Frog-Mouth, Batrachostomus 

 auritus, is also a member of the Night-Jar family, but 

 is much more uncommon than Caprimulgiis macmrus, 

 and is never seen near towns or human habitations. 

 The nest is a curious structure, being a thick circular 

 pad of fine down closely matted together and firmly 

 attached to the slender branch of some shrub or small 

 tree ; a single egg is laid. The egg by its weight soon 

 forms a small depression in the pad of down, but at 

 first there is no such depression, and it is never deep 

 enough to hold the egg securely. It is difficult to 

 understand how the egg is kept in position ; the slightest 

 oscillation of the branch on which the nest is made 

 would suffice to throw the egg to the ground, if the 

 mother-bird were not incubating it. I am inclined to 

 suppose that a very small quantity of some albuminous 

 or glutinous substance may help to hold the egg in 

 its precarious position. This may seem a far-fetched 

 suggestion, but it is quite certain that the down com- 

 posing the nest is felted together with some glutinous 

 substance secreted by the bird, and the under-surface 

 of the nest is stuck fast to the bough on which it is 



1 It does do so in the breeding season for a short time. H. N. R. 



