FROG-MOUTHS. 83 



rufous ; the under surface of body pale fawn colour spotted with greenish black. The 

 Madagascar kiroumbo inhabits the island from which it takes its name, as well as 

 Mayotte and Anjouan Islands, but in the great Comoro Island is replaced by the 

 smaller L. gracile. It is said by Grandidier to live in little parties of ten or 

 twelve individuals on the edges of the woods. As soon as one of the birds is shot, 

 all the others come near the hunter or hover over their dead companions, so that 

 ten or more can be obtained in a quarter of an hour. That the kiroumbo has a 

 certain element of a roller in its composition, is shown by its habit of playing in 

 the air, which Sir Edward Newton describes as follows : " It plays for some time 

 over the same place, ascending almost perpendicularly, as it were by a jump, to a 



MADAGASCAR KIROUMBO ( nat. size). 



great height, and descending again in a curve nearly to the top of the trees, by 

 almost closing its wings, at the same time uttering a whistle so like that of an 

 eagle that it was doubted for a long time by us whether the bird that performed 

 this wonderful freak was not a raptorial. However, after having watched it 

 several times with our glasses, we satisfied ourselves that it was this species." 



THE FROG-MOUTHS. 

 Family POLAROID^. 



These curious birds have been usually associated with the nightjars, to which 

 they approximate in their wide mouths and mottled plumage, although they differ 



