8 4 
PICA RIAN BIRDS. 
in the more important feature of the palate, being constructed on the desmo- 
gnathous instead of on the schizognathous type. Accordingly, it seems 
most probable that their true position is between the kiroumbos and the 
oil-birds (to be mentioned next). From the former they are distinguished by 
the absence of an oil-gland, and the presence of only ten feathers in the tail; 
while from the latter they differ by the absence of the articular surfaces on the 
rostrum of the hinder part of the palate, known as basipterygoid processes. Unlike 
the nightjars, these birds have no comb-like appendage to the third toe; while 
they further differ by building nests, or laying their eggs in hollow trees. Two 
notches occur in the hinder border of the breast-bone. 
Typical Frog- These birds, Podargus, are the typical representatives of the firs. 
Mouths. of the two subfamilies into which the group is divided, this subfamily 
being distinguished by the narrow, slit-like nostrils, protected by an overhanging 
membrane, and hidden by plumes and feathers. Powder-down patches occupy 
each side of the rump, and the metatarsus is shorter than the third toe. The 
present genus, which is characterised by the pointed tail-feathers, includes five 
species, all inhabitants of Australia and the adjacent Papuan Islands. Gould 
describes the Australian species as inanimate and sluggish birds, depending on 
their supply of food less upon their power of flight than upon the habit they are 
said to have of traversing the branches of trees on which their favourite insects 
reside. At intervals during the night they sit about in open places, on rails, 
stumps of trees, or the roofs of houses. They are strictly nocturnal in their habits, 
sleeping during the day, and mostly found in pairs, perched near each other on 
the branches of the gum-trees, in situations not at all sheltered from the beams 
of the midday sun. “ So lethargic are its slumbers,” he writes, “ that it is 
almost impossible to arouse it, and I have frequently shot one without disturbing 
its mate sitting close by; it may also be knocked off with sticks or stones, and 
is sometimes even taken with the hand. When aroused, it flies lazily off with 
heavy flapping wings to a neighbouring tree, and again resumes its slumbers till 
the approach of evening, when it becomes as animated and active as it had been 
previously dull and stupid.” According to Mr. North, in New South Wales, 
the tawny-shouldered frog-mouth commences to breed in September, and the 
breeding-season is at its height in October, and continues for the two following 
months. It builds a flat nest of sticks, loosely placed together on the horizontal 
branch of any suitable tree. The eggs are three in number, perfectly white, elon¬ 
gated in form, and the shell finely granulate. 
Eared Frog- Their smaller size and rounded tail-feathers distinguish these 
Mouths. birds from the preceding, while the mode of nesting is also different. 
The side of the head in some of the species is adorned with ear-tufts, ending in 
bristly plumes. The sexes also are mostly different in colour, the female being 
rufous and the male greyer. One of the largest species is the great-eared frog- 
mouth (Batrachostomus ciuritus), inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and 
Borneo. It measures about 16 inches in length, and is chestnut-brown, vermicu- 
lated with blackish lines, and whitish bars. On the bund-neck is a collar of buffy 
white feathers, with a black border, forming bands; median and greater wing- 
coverts with large spots of white edged with black ; throat and breast brown, with 
