THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
frequent in July''* A reproduction of Watling’s painting was attached as 
pi. cxxxvT. In the Index Ornith. Supply p. Iviii, simultaneously published, 
he proposed the Latin equivalent C{aprimulgus) vittatus for the Banded 
Goatsucker. 
When Vigors and Horsfield worked through the Australian birds in the 
collection of the Linnean Society they proposed the new genus Mgotheles for 
this species, but the only note reads : “ This bird is called by the natives 
Teringing". Mr. Caley cannot exactly discover in his Notes where he met with 
his specimen ; but, as far as he recollects, it was shot in the woods below Sydney.” 
Consequently Gould’s field notes are the earliest record of its life-history, 
and they are so complete that little has really been added. I here transcribe 
them : “ This very interesting little Nightjar possesses a great range of habitat, 
being found in every part of Tasmania, and throughout the southern portion 
of Australia, from Swan River on the western coast to Queensland on the 
eastern ; time, and the continued exploration of that vast country, can alone 
determine how far it may be found to the northward : it is a stationary species, 
inhabiting alilie the densest brushes near the coast and the more thinly 
wooded districts of the interior. While rambling in the Australian forests I 
had the good fortune to meet with more than an ordinary number of specimens 
of this curious bird. I also procured its eggs and considerable information 
respecting its habits and actions, which differ most remarkably from those 
of the other members of the family {Caprimulgidce), and, on the other hand, 
assimilate so closely to those of the smaller Owls that the English name of 
Owlet Nightjar has been assigned to it. 
“ During the day the bird resorts to the hollow branches or spouts, as they 
are called, and the holes of the gum-trees, sallying forth as night approaches 
in quest of insects, particularly small Coleoptera. Its flight is straight, and 
not characterised by the sudden turns and descents of the Caprimulgi. 
On driving it from its haimts I have sometimes observed it to fly direct 
to a similar hole m another tree, but more frequently to alight on a 
neighbouring branch, perching across and never parallel to it. When 
assailed in its retreat it emits a loud hissing noise, and has the same 
stooping motion of the head observable in the Owls; it also resembles that 
tribe of birds in its erect carriage, the manner in which it sets out the feathers 
round the ears and neck, and in the power it possesses of turning the head in 
every direction, even over the back, a habit it is constantly practising. . . . 
While traversing the woods, the usual mode of ascertaining its presence is 
by tapping with a stone or a tomahawk at the base of the hollow trees, when 
the little inmate will almost invariably ascend to the outlet and peep over to 
ascertain the cause of distinbance. If the tree be lofty, or its hole inaccessible. 
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