184 



Div. 1. VERTEBRATE ANIMALS— A VES. 



Class 2. 



Fi^. 93. — Sternum of Moth-hunter. 



inward. The claw of the middle toe is commonly pectinated on its inner edge ; and the outer toe has 

 only four phalanges, a conformation extremely rare among Binls. They live solitarily [or rather per- 

 manently in pairs] and are crepuscular in their time of action, pursuing Moths and other nocturnal 

 insects : deposit few eggs [we believe always two in number] on the bare ground, and have gene- 

 rally singular voices. 



[The Moth-hunters bear the same relationship to the Swifts (not to the Swallows) that the Owls do 

 to the Hawks, and have similar great cceca ; also a simple vocal organ, and general anatomy very 

 much resembling that of the Cuckoos, as will be partly seen by 

 compaiison of the figures we have given of the sternal apparatus 

 of both. They have only ten tail-feathers ; and the young are 

 covered with down when first excluded.] 



The common European species (C Europans, Lin.) [is remarkable for 

 the loud sound it emits, like the burr of a spinning'-wheel. Another, 

 C. ruftcoUis, Tern., visits south-western Europe. The former is the 

 latest to arrive in spring of all our summer visitants, rarely appearing- 

 before the end of May. 



Among the foreign species, a great number have longer tarsi, adapted 

 for running on the ground. The tail varies much in shape, and there 

 is one, from Africa, remarkable for a feather twice the lengtli of the 

 body, which arises from the carpus of each wing, and is barbed only at 

 the end ; another has prodigiously developed secondaries ; and there 

 are some with an appearance of aigrettes on the head, which constitute 

 the Lyncornis of Gould. 



Thk Guacharos {Steatomis, Humboldt) — 



Have a stronger beak, and toes separate to their articulation, the thumb still directed inward. 



These curious birds inhabit deep caverns in South America, subsist on berries, and the fat of the youiig is pro- 

 cured upon a large scale to be employed in cookery. 



The Nyctibunes {Nyctihius, Vieillot) — 

 Are also from South America, and are remarkable for having the shortest tarsi of any bird whatever : 

 their wings are immensely long, and sides of the gape not bristled. The toes are formed for clinging 

 to the bark of trees, as their proportions completely disqualify them from rising from a level surface. 

 ITiere are several large species, which ordinarily float at a great altitude above the forests. 



The ./Egotheles {Mgotheles, Vig.) — 

 Have long tarsi, and toes apparently fitted for hopping from bough to bough ; the wings comi)ara- 

 tively short. 

 The only known species mhabits Australia, and is the Caprimulgus Nova: Ilollnndhe of Phillips]. 



The Podargues (Podargus, Cuv ) — 

 Have the form, colour, and habits of the Moth-hunters, but the bill is considerably more robust, and 

 there are no membranes to the toes, nor pectination of the middle claw, [a character which is wanting 

 in several even of the true Moth-hunters]. 



The species inhabit Australia and Australasia, and have some appearance of aigrettes on the head : are remark- 

 able for the singularity of their general aspect. 



The foregoing genera, commencing with the Moth-hunters, form an entirely distinct natural group, 

 intermediate to the Swifts and Cuckoos, but passing into neither.] 



The third family of the Passerines, or 



The CoNiRosTRES, — 

 Is composed of genera that have a stout beak, more or less conical, and [generally] devoid of 

 emargination. They subsist more exclusively on grain as the beak is stronger and thicker. 



We first distinguish among them 



The Larks {Alauda, Lin.) — 

 Which have a long and straight hind-claw, a character which however is also more or less marked in 

 the Pipits, and in the Snowflecks, yet to be denoted. Thev are granivorous birds, and pulverators [or 



