THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Little seems to have been recorded about this species, save that 
Le Souef described the eggs in 1896, forty years after it was first noted 
as an Australian bird. No notes seem to have been taken of its habits, 
which seems quite justifiable, as little could be observed on a collecting 
trip in such a far locality. It was noted that it was not much disturbed 
by gunfire, as might be expected from the locality, whatever its normal habits 
might be. 
The genus Podargus has been credited with the absence of an oil gland, but 
Furbringer recorded it in the allied genus Batrachostomus, and in the following 
note Bemey’s remark should be noted. 
Berney’s note is, as usual, worthy of quotation {Emti, Vol. VI., p. 43, 1906) : 
'‘^Podargus papuensis. I do not often see them, and then, of course, they are 
always in timber. Being nocturnal, and naturally protected by their colour 
and the attitude they affect when roosting, they are, I dare say, more common 
than one would at first suppose. My records of them refer to all seasons of the 
year. In August, 1904, I shot one for examination, which gave among others 
the following details : Sex, female ; eggs in ovaries the size of swan shot ; total 
length, 16 inches ; wing 8^ inches ; tail 7| inches ; tarsus 1 inches ; biU to gape 
2J inches ; width of gape 1^ inches. Throughout the plumage, which is most 
soft and owl-like, there is a rusty hue caused by minute freckles of red, which 
is most conspicuous on the outer webs of the scapularies, the tail-feathers (all 
but the centre pair) and the extremities of the primaries. The markings of the 
under-surface are richer than those of the upper, the lights being lighter and the 
darks darker. The extremities of the tail-feathers are very pointed. The legs 
are quaintly chubby, and well earn for the bird its generic name ; the toes, being 
thick and swollen at the base, taper rapidly to their extremity. Under the 
feathers the body is freely covered with soot-coloured down. On each side of 
the oil gland is a prominent powder patch. It was the toughest bird to pluck 
that I ever tried to pull the feathers off : many of the wing-quills broke off 
m their sockets. This species is fond of roosting in pairs, sometimes four 
together in the same tree.” 
Barnard, writing of Cape York {Emu, Vol. XI., p. 23, 1911), states : “ Fairly 
common in forest country. Breeds in any timber in the forest. Nest the usual 
scanty stick structure, placed on a horizontal fork of a tree. Breeding-months 
from September to February. The first nest taken by me contained two eggs, 
and I had previously been under the impression that one egg only formed the 
clutch. They measure (a) 1*97 X 1*32, (6) 1*87 X 1*28. This is evidently 
a rare occurrence, as all the other nests found contained only one egg, or one 
young bird. From information obtained from Mr. F. L. Jardine and others, I 
find that this species migrates, and frequently settles on the pearling boats in 
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