368 GOATSUCKER. 



We believe that the above species is not already known to 

 ornithologists, unless the following extract from Monsieur Depens, in 

 his History of South America, may allude to it. He says, " In the 

 " Mountain Turmeriquiri, situated in the interior of the Government 

 " of Cumana, there is a cavern called Guacharo : it is immense, and 

 " serves as a habitation of millions of nocturnal birds, (a new Species 

 " of the Caprimulgus of Linnaeus,) whose fat yields the Oil of 

 " Guacharo." 



This, or a species greatly similar, is mentioned by M. de Humboldt* 

 as inhabiting a dark cavern, formed by rocks, thrown together by 

 the hand of Nature, in the Cordilleras ; over which the famous bridges 

 of Icononzo are thrown. " Numberless flights of nocturnal birds 

 " haunt the Crevice, and which we were led at first to mistake for 

 " Bats of a gigantic size ; thousands of them are seen flying over 

 " the surface of the water. The Indians assured us, that they are of 

 "the size of a Fowl, with a curved beak and an Owl's eye. They 

 " are called Cacas, and the uniform colour of their plumage, which 

 '■' is brownish grey, leads me to think, that they belong to the Genus 

 " of Caprimulgus,t the species of which is so various in the Cordil- 

 " leras. It is impossible to catch them on account of the depth of 

 " the valley, and they can be examined only by throwing down 

 " rockets to illumine the sides of the rock." 



38 —WEDGE-TAILED GOATSUCKER. 



LENGTH twenty inches. Bill stout and thick as in the Crow, 

 much hooked, notched near the tip, and brown ; from the point to 

 the gape of the mouth two inches and a half; between the nostrils 

 some erect bristles pointing forwards, forming a sort of hairy crest, 



* Researches concerning the Institutions and Manners of the ancient Inhabitants of 

 America, by Helen Maria Williams, transcribed from Humbolt. 

 f M. de Humboldt gives it the significant name of Steatornis. 



