342 AVES— SUB-ORDER TODI. 



development of the two central tail-feathers beyond the rest teaches the 

 birds that these are the two specially designed by nature to carry the 

 "racket" ! 



The motmots are green birds, generally with a black patch on the crown 

 which is surrounded by blue ; the under-side is paler, and generally of a 

 fawn-coloured shade. They nest in holes, often tunnelling to a distance 

 of six feet, and the egijs are laid in a rounded chamber at the end of the 

 tunnel, as is the case with the kingfishers and bee-eaters of the Old World. 

 With the kingfishers, however, there is no nest beyond the remains of 

 the fish-bones which are cast up by the parent birds, whereas in the nest-hole 

 of the motmots a few dry twigs are sometimes present. The nesting-place, 

 according to Mr. Zeledon, is a foul-smelling habitation, in which the yountr 

 remain till they are able to fly pretty well. It should be noted that 

 young birds have the edges of the mandibles quite smooth, and without 

 any serrations. 



The todies are also represented by a single neo-tropical family, the Todidce, 

 which is peculiar to the West Indian sub-region. Only four species are 

 known, and these are from the islands 

 The Todies. — of Jamaica, Cuba, San Domingo, and 

 Sub-order Porto Bico. The long, flattened bill, 

 Todi. with its evident rictal bristles, suggests 



that of an exaggerated flycatcher, and 

 in many of its habits a tody resembles a flycatcher, 

 though it will at times search for its food like a warbler. 

 The todies have a desmognathous palate, showing their j^- ^^^^j^ Jamjica 

 true afiinity to the motmots and kingfishers, and they Tov-i (Todus mridis), 

 nest in holes in banks excavated by the little birds 



themselves, though they appear likewise to avail themselves of holes and 

 depressions already made. The eggs, like those of other picarian birds, are 

 glossy white, and are laid on a bed of earth in a chamber at the end of the 

 tunnel. 



This is a very interesting group of birds, of which we have one representa- 

 tive in England, the common nightjar, or "goatsucker," as it is often 

 foolishly called, Gaprimidgus europuvs. In the Capiirmdgi 

 The Nightjars. — we meet with both segithognathous forms, such as Copri- 

 Sub-order muhjns and the allied genera, and schizognathous forms, 



Caprimvlgi. such as Chordeiles of the New World. The presence of two 

 types of palatine characters in one family raises grave doubts 

 as to the value of this formation of the palate, which has been so much in- 

 sisted upou by osteologists. There are eighteen genera of the sub-family 

 Cain-imulginir, and they all have the middle toe furnished with a kind of comb. 

 They possess no powder-down patches. 



Our common nightjar (('((primnlgns enropavs) is crepuscular in its habits, 

 a bird of the twilight. During the day it rests, and only flies when suddenly 

 disturbed ; but, as dusk comes on, it comes forth in pursuit of insects, and is 

 often to be seen flying by the light of the moon, soaring above with a sailing 

 flight, and occasionally producing a "clacking" noise by flapping its wings 

 together above its head. The singtular jarrmg mnse which the creature 

 makes seems to be its love-song, and in a heathy country, which is the usual 

 habitat of the goatsucker, this "churring" utterance is heard as twilight 

 commences, and even far into the night. 



From their mottled and soft plumage, the goatsuckers have been generally 



