PODAGERINiE. 
innermost quill extremely prolonged, and sometimes deficient of webs except at the end. Tail rather 
lengthened, and even or slightly emarginated at the end. Tarsi as long as, or longer than, the middle toe, 
robust, partly clothed with plumes, and the apical portion covered with transverse scales. Toes unequal ; 
the lateral toes nearly equal, shorter than the middle toe, and united by a short membrane: the claims 
moderate and acute, that of the middle toe long and serrated. 
The typical species is found in Western Africa, while Mr. Gould informs us that the second species inhabits the 
islands lying between those of Bourbon and Madagascar ; it is also numerous, he says, on the shores of the Red Sea, 
and in the island of Socotra. Their habits and manners are unknown. 
1. M. longipennis (Shaw), G. R. Gray, Nat. Misc. pi. 265.-Capri- i 2. M. vemllarius Gould, leones Ay. ii. pi. .—Type of Seineto- 
mulgus macrodipteryx Aftsel. ; Macrodipteryx africanus Swains. | phorus Gould (1838). 
PoDAGER Wao'l* 
o 
Bill much depressed and broad at the base, with the culmen curved, and the sides compressed to the 
tip, which is hooked and acute ; the nostrils lateral, with the opening oval and partly covered by 
scattered plumes. Wings long, reaching beyond the end of the tail, and pointed ; with the first quill 
the longest. Tail short and even. Tarsi very short, and entirely clothed with plumes. Toes strong 
and unequal, with the lateral toe short, and the inner toe the longer of the two ; both united at their 
base by a membrane to the middle toe, which is the longest, and armed with a moderate, curved, and 
serrated claw. 
The species that compose this genus are found in the warmer parts of South America, where they frequent fields and 
moist places, usually in pairs, although they have sometimes been observed in troops of more than a hundred together, 
chasing insects m full daylight. The female deposits two eggs on the bare ground, without any kind of nest. 
1. P. nacunda (Vieill.) N. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. x. p. 240 — Capri- 2. P. Nattereri Temm. PI. col. 107. 
mulgus diurnus Pr. Max. Temm. PI. col. 182. ; C. carnpestris Licht. 3. P. Gouldii G. R. Gray. 
* Wagler established this genus in 1882 (Isis, 1832, p. 277-). Protthera of Mr. Swainson (1837) is synonymous. 
December, 1847. 
