12 
Lieut. W. V. Legge on the Distribution of 
any noise which would lead to the belief that it is the author 
of the dreaded sounds imputed to it. When hungry its note 
is a low screech, resembling the creak of a wheel-barrow 
in the distance; and when annoyed or chased by its com¬ 
panions in captivity it utters a curious tit-tit-tit-tit. On one 
occasion, after feeding at sundown, it gave vent to a low and 
somewhat musical noise, which seemed to proceed from the 
depths of its chest. There are therefore several inferences that 
might be drawn from my experience—that it does not hoot in 
captivity, that it is the male that possesses such extraordinary 
vocal powers (mine being a female), that it does not utter 
these sounds until it is quite mature, or lastly that the bird 
and the peculiar notes are wrongly identified. 
Batrachostomus moniliger inhabits the low hills which are 
covered with thick jungle and bamboo-thickets. It has been 
procured at Amblangodde, about twenty miles north of Galle; 
and I have got a specimen in my collection which I shot a 
few miles from the town, near the celebrated village of Wack- 
welle. It is remarkably blind in the daytime, as are also the 
Australian Podargi. My bird was sitting across a horizontal 
bamboo, and allowed me to almost touch it before I became 
aware of its presence; it did not attempt to fly, but simply 
opened and shut its eyes, turning its head towards me, as I 
retired to a convenient distance to shoot it. It measured in 
the flesh 9 inches total length, tail 4* I, wing 4^, iris yellow, 
bill greenish brown, feet and tarsi fleshy grey, the former the 
darkest. Caprimulgus asiaticus and C. atripennis are very 
common; but the latter is the more numerous of the two: 
certain wooded localities in the low country, in which it is 
most plentiful, swarm with this bird. Just as the sun sets 
the first “ kak-o-wa-wa ” is heard; and this is the signal for 
a whole wood to resound with these peculiar notes, the bird 
being always seated on a tree at the time ; after having car¬ 
ried on this concert for five or ten minutes, they sally out and 
may be seen alighting on the paths, and allow then a near 
approach. The largest males measure 11 inches, females 
10*4 inches; and these, like C. asiaticus , have the tail-spot on 
the two outer feathers of a dirty or yellowish white , and less 
