CAPRIMULGIDZH AND OWLS 
They have enormous mouths, which are carried agape 
in their flight and catch innumerable insects. The bill 
is small, since it is not needed as an assistance to feeding 
or fighting, the two principal occupations of the “‘ lower ”’ 
animals. The plumage of Podargus is, as is that of other 
goatsuckers, a soft mixture of browns and greys, a 
“crepuscular’”’ hue, in fact, which assorts well with a 
nocturnal life. The ‘‘ More-Pork”’ looks something 
like a caricature of a bird by Lear. Its head is enor- 
mous, and its body shrunken. A pair of large yellow 
eyes complete a picture which is ludicrous. One speci- 
men at the Zoo was fed with new-born mice, which were 
gulped with ease down its huge throat. In Australia 
it feeds on insects. The proper name of this bird 
appears to be Podargus strigoides, and the name is 
suggestive of the resemblances of the bird. Since the 
owls have been by almost universal consent divorced 
from the hawks, their likeness to the goatsucker tribe 
has been all the more commented upon. They have the 
same retiring shades of browns in their plumage, they 
fly softly like aerial Agags or moths, and they are noc- 
turnal. All this, of course, is hardly enough to prove 
a Close alliance. But the facts may be slight indications 
which will be confirmed by later studies of the birds. 
It is curious, too, and not unsuggestive, that in New 
Zealand the name “ More-Pork”’ is applied to an owl. 
Our bird is naturally considered to be a bird of ill-omen 
on account of its really ghastly looks, and its habit of 
sitting upon tombstones confirms the popular view. 
Its near ally, the oil-bird, or guacharo, of South America, 
shares its ill-omened reputation, which is enhanced by 
a living in caves. The Podargus is remarkable among 
goatsuckers for building a nest on branches. The others 
lay eggs on the ground. The tribe generally does not 
lend itself to confinement, and it is unlikely that the 
visitor will meet with more than one example of the 
167 
