•278 Passeres. BIRDS. Capkimulgidas. 
where tlioy are crossed b}' a broad white band ; the 
first five primaries of the wing are also marked with a 
broad white band, and -there is a triangular spot of 
white on the throat. The gape is destitute of biistles. 
The Virginian Goatsucker is met with in all parts of the 
United States, and also in Canada and Nova Scotia, 
where it appears to be very abundant. Its habits 
resemble those of the other Goatsuckers, the evening 
being its principal period of activity, except in wet 
gloomy weather, when it often comes abroad in the 
daytime, generally flying at a considerable height. It 
is strong on the wing, and executes the most varied 
movements in the air with great agility, as it becomes 
necessary to change its course in order to capture its 
insect prey. Unlike the preceding species, which gen- 
erally reside whollj- in rural districts, the present bird 
will venture boldly into the towns and cities, where it 
may be seen sitting on the chimney |ops. Whilst 
engaged in the pursuit of insects in the air, this bird 
emits a singular cry, compared by different hearers to 
the syllables piramidig or gi' me a bit, or, according to 
Mr. Gosse, wittmoitmvit. In descending perpendicu- 
larly, which this bird will often do to a distance of 
sixty or eighty feet with great rapidity, it produces a 
loud booming sound, very much resembling that caused 
by blowing strongly into the bunghole of an empty 
cask. This manoeuvre is fiequently repeated. The 
eggs are deposited about the middle of May, and, as 
with the other Goatsuckers, are laid upon the ground 
without any nest. 
THE NACUNDA GOATSUCKER [Podager Nacumla), 
a Brazilian species, which migrates southwards in the 
summer, is usually met with in the open country, 
where it is said by Azara to prefer moist places. It 
often pursues its insect prey by dajdight, whence it has 
been called the Diurnal Goatsucker by some orni- 
thologists. 
THE GREAT IBIJAU {Nyclibius grandis). — This bird, 
which is a native of South America, belongs to a genus 
strikingly distinguished by several very peculiar char- 
acters from the group formed by the preceding 
species. In these birds, of which seven species are 
known, the bill is considerably longer than in the 
true Goatsuckers, but almost entirely membranous in 
its structure ; the only horny parts being the ridge of 
the npper mandible, and the somewhat hooked tip 
with which it is terminated. The margins of the 
upper mandible are furnished with a soft process or 
tooth, and the whole of the lower mandible is com- 
pletely concealed beneath the upper one when the 
mouth is closed. The tarsi are shorter than even in 
the true Goatsuckers, scarcely equalling in length one 
of the joints of the toes ; they are stout, and clothed 
with feathers. The toes are better adapted for grasping 
than in the preceding species, the posterior one in par- 
ticular being much longer and stronger, and articulated 
at the back of the tarsus instead of at the side. The 
claw of the middle toe is slightly dilated, but not 
denticulated on the inner side. The habits of the birds 
are in accordance with this striking difference in the 
construction of the feet. Instead of dwelling on the 
ground, they take up their abode amongst the branches 
of trees, and, singularly enough, usually attach them- 
selves, in the manner of the Woodpeckers, to the 
extremity of a broken branch. Here they remain with 
the body in a vertical position, and supported on the 
tail, the feathers of which are always more or less 
worn, with about half the body projecting beyond the 
branch ; bj' which means, as their plumage is nearly of 
the same colour as the bark, and they remain for a long 
time quite motionless, it becomes very difficult to dis- 
cover them. 
The Great Ibijau measures nearly twenty inches in 
length, and is of a brown colour, spotted with black, 
buff, and white. It is nocturnal in its habits, flying 
about like the ordinary Goatsuckers in pursuit of 
night-flying insects. It lays its eggs and brings 
up its young in a small hollow in a tree, without 
making any nest. Azara mentions that it is a common 
opinion that tbe.se birds not only make no nest, but 
that they stick their eggs to trees by means of some 
sort of glue or gum, and that, when the young are 
ready to be hatched, they or their parents break off the 
upper half of the egg, leaving the lower part sticking to 
the tree. 
THE JAMAICA IBIJAU {Nyclibius jamaicensis), or 
PoTOO, which is found not only in Jamaica, but also in 
Brazil and other parts of the South American continent, 
is a smaller bird than the preceding, which it somewhat 
resembles in the tints of its plumage. In Jamaica it 
sometimes flies by day, but its regular period of activity 
is the evening, when it flits about with noiseless wings, 
or takes its station on a dead tree or fence. Mr. Gosse, 
judging from the habits of a specimen which he had 
alive, thinks that the bird, notwithstanaing its large 
and powerful wings, flies but little, and that it watches 
for the insects on which it preys from a resting-place, 
and dashes after them when they come in sight, some- 
what in the manner of the Flycatchers. According to 
the Avriter just quoted, this bird feeds upon tire large, 
hard, and horned beetles winch abound in tropical 
countries, as tbe well-knorvn dung-beetles do here. Its 
cry is a loud and hoarse ho-hoo. The eggs of the 
Potoo are deiiosited on the ground, but, unlike tbe 
ordinary Goatsuckers, it makes some little attempt at 
nest-building. Mr. Gosse says, “I have seen that 
which serves this bird for a nest ; it is simply a round 
flat mat, about four inches wide, composed of the 
fibrous plant called Old Man’s Beard (Tillandsia 
usneoides)." This is a singular moss-like plant which 
grows upon the branches of trees, from which it hangs 
down like a great white beard. 
THE GUACHARO {Sleatornis caripensis), also known 
as tbe Oil-Bird and tbe Trinidad Goatsucker, is 
another very remarkable species of this family, whicli 
inhabits the tropical regions of America. For our know- 
ledge of the natural history of this bird, we are princi- 
pally indebted to the celebrated traveller Humboldt. 
It is about the size of a pigeon, measuring eighteen 
inches in length including the tail, which is long ; the 
bill is long, hooked, and robust, although very broad 
at the base and depressed; the nostrils are large, 
pierced near the middle of the sides of the bill, and 
overarched -by some long stiff hairs springing from its 
base ; the tarsi exhibit no scales or plates, the toes are 
of modv'i'ate length and strength, and the middle claw 
