278 



Passeres.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-Caprimulgid^. 



where they are crossed by a broad white band ; the 

 first five primaries of the wing are also marked with a 

 broad white band, and there is a triangular spot of 

 white on the throat. The gape is destitute of bristles. 

 The Virginian Goatsucker is met with hi all parts of the 

 United States, and also in Canada and Nova Scotia, 

 where it appears to be very abundant. Its habits 

 resemble those of the other Goatsuckers, the evenuig 

 being its principal period of activity, except in wet 

 gloomy weather, when it often comes abroad in the 

 daytime, generaUy flying at a considerable height. It 

 is strong on the wing, and executes the most varied 

 movements in the air with great agility, as it becomes 

 necessary to change its course in order to capture its 

 insect prey. Unlike the preceding species, which gen- 

 erally reside wholly in rural districts, the present bird 

 wiU venture boldly into the towns and cities, where it 

 may be seen sitting on the chimney tops. Whilst 

 engaged in the pursuit of insects in the air, this bud 

 emits a singular cry, compared by different hearers to 

 tlie syllables ^//ramiV/)// or gi' me a bit, or, according to 

 Mr. Gosse, wittaicitaicit. In descending perpendicu- 

 larly, which this biid will often do to a distance of 

 sixty or eighty feet with great rapidity, it produces a 

 loud booming sound, very much resembling that caused 

 by blowing strongly into tiie bungbole of an empty 

 cask. This manceuvre is frequently repeated. Tlie 

 eggs are deposited about the middle of IMay, and, as 

 with tlie other Goatsuckers, are laid upon the ground 

 without any nest. 



THE NACUNDA GOATSUCKER {Podwjer Nacunda), 

 a Brazilian species, which migrates southwards in the 

 summer, is usually met with in the open country, 

 wliere it is said by Azara to prefer moist places. It 

 often piu'sues its insect prey by dajdight, whence it has 

 been called the Diuenal Goatsucker by some orni- 

 thologists. 



THE GREAT IBIJAU {Nijctibius grandis) .—TUs biid, 

 which is a native of South America, belongs to a genus 

 strikingly distinguished by several very peculiar char- 

 acters from the group formed by the preceding 

 species. In these birds, of wliich seven species are 

 known, the bill is considerably longer tlian in the 

 true Goatsuckers, but almost entirely membranous m 

 its structure ; the ouly horny parts being the ridge of 

 the ui)per mandible, and the somewhat hooked tip 

 with which it is terminated. The margins of the 

 upper mandible are fm'nished with a soft process or 

 tooth, and the whole of the lower mandible is com- 

 pletely concealed beneath the upper one when the 

 mouth is closed. The tarsi are shorter than even in 

 the true Goatsuckers, scarcely equalling in length one 

 of the joints of the toes ; they are stout, and clothed 

 with feathers. The toes are better adapted for grasping 

 than in the preceding species, the posterior one hi par- 

 ticular being much longer and stronger, and articulated 

 at the back of the tarsus instead of at the side. The 

 claw of the middle toe is slightly dilated, but not 

 denticulated on the inner side. The habits of the birds 

 are in accordance with this striking difference in the 

 construction of the feet. Instead of dwellmg on the 

 ground, they take up their abode amongst the branches 

 of trees, and, singularly enougli, usually attach them- 



selves, in the manner of the Woodpeckers, to the 

 extremity of a broken branch. Here they remain with 

 the body in a vertical position, and supported on the 

 tail, the feathers of which are always more or less 

 worn, with about half the body projecting beyond the 

 branch ; by which means, as their plumage is nearly of 

 the same colour as the bai'k, and they remain for a long 

 time quite motionless, it becomes very difficult to dis 

 cover them. 



The Great Ibijau measures nearly twenty inches in 

 length, and is of a brown colour, spotted with black, 

 bulf, and white. It is nocturnal in its habits, flying 

 about like the ordinary Goatsuckers in pursuit of 

 night-fljnng insects. It lays its eggs and brings 

 up its young in a small hollow in a tree, without 

 making any nest. Azara mentions that it is a common 

 opinion that these birds not only make no nest, but 

 that they stick their eggs to trees by means of some 

 sort of glue or gum, and that, when the young are 

 ready to be hatched, tliey or their parents break off' the 

 upper half of the egg, leaving the lower part sticking to 

 the tree. 



THE JAMAICA IBIJAU {Nydihius jamaicensis), or 

 PoToo, which is found not only in Jamaica, but also in 

 BrazU and other parts of the South American continent, 

 is a smaller bird than the preceding, which it somewhat 

 resembles in the tints of its plumage. In Jamaica it 

 sometimes flies by day, but its regular period of activity 

 is the evening, when it flits about with noiseless wings, 

 or takes its station on a dead tree or fence. Mr. Gosse, 

 judging from the habits of a specimen which he had 

 alive, thinks that the bird, notwithstanauig its large 

 and powerful wings, flies but little, and that it watches 

 for the insects on ^^■hich it preys from a resting-place, 

 and dashes after them when they come in sight, some- 

 what in the manner of the Flycatchers. According to 

 the writer just quoted, this bird feeds upon the large, 

 hard, and horned beetles which abound in tropical 

 countries, as the well-luiown dung-beetles do here. Its 

 cry is a loud and hoarse ho-hoo. The eggs of the 

 Potoo are deposited on the ground, but, miUke the 

 ordinary Goatsuckers, it makes some little attempt at 

 nest-building. Mr. Gosse says, " I have seen that 

 which serves this bird for a nest : it is simply a round 

 flat mat, about four inches wide, composed of tlie 

 fibrous plant called Old Man's Beard (TUlaiuhia 

 usueoidcs) ." This is a singular moss-like plant which 

 grows upon the branches of trees, from W'hich it hangs 

 down like a great white beard. 



THE GUACHARO {Slealornis carijxnsiti), also known 

 as the OiL-BiUD and tlie Trinidad Goatsucker, is 

 another very remarkable species of this family, which 

 inhabits the tropical regions of America. For om' know- 

 ledge of the natural history of this bird, we are princi- 

 pally indebted to the celebrated traveller HuniLoldt. 

 It is about the size of a pigeon, measuring eighteen 

 inches in lengtli including the tafl, which is long ; the 

 bill is long, hooked, and robust, although very broad 

 at the base and dejjressed ; the nostrils are large, 

 pierced near the middle of the sides of the bill, and 

 overarched by some long stiff' hairs springing from its 

 base ; the tarsi exhibit no scales or plates, the toes are 

 of moderate lenc-th and strength, and the middle claw 



