THE TENTH FAMILY OF THE FISSIROSTRAL PICARIAN BIRDS.—THE NIGHTJARS, OR GOATSUCKERS (Caprimulgidæ).
MOUTH OF GOATSUCKER.
MOUTH OF GOATSUCKER.
From the adjoining woodcut it will be seen that a Nightjar is indeed a Fissirostral, or wide-gaping bird, and this large mouth is characteristic of the whole family. Their soft mottled plumage, their large eyes, and their habit of flying by night, have induced many naturalists to place them in close proximity to the Owls, with which family of birds, however, they have nothing further in common. Members of the family of Goatsuckers are distributed nearly all over the world, with the exception of the islands of Oceania, and a great difference is observable in their size and form, and to some extent in their habits. Thus the Guacharo, or Oil-bird (Steatornis[282]caripensis), is met with only in the island of Trinidad, where it is also calledDiablotin, and where it inhabits the inmost recesses of caverns, either by the sea or inland. The birds spend the entire day in these dark recesses, and come out only at night to procure their food, which consists of the fruits of different palms, the seeds of which are rejected, and form, with the droppings of the birds, a thick flooring of guano in some of the caves. Sometimes the bird forms a huge cradle of this deposit, apparently for the greater security of its young ones; and one of these singular nests, if such they may be called, is exhibited in the British Museum. The nestlings become very fat, and are sometimes eaten, but according to M. Léotand, in his work on the Birds of Trinidad, there is a certain odour about them which makes them unpalatable to the appetite of most people.
OIL-BIRD.
OIL-BIRD.
In India and in the Malayan Archipelago is found a group of Nightjars belonging to the genusBatrachostomus[283]popularly known as “Frog-mouths;” their place is taken in Australia and New Guinea by the giants of the family—thePodargi, examples of which are generally to be seen in the London Zoological Gardens. Of the Tawny-shoulderedPodargus(P. strigoides[284]) Mr. Gould gives the following account:—“Like the rest of this genus, this species is strictly nocturnal, sleeping throughout the day on the dead branch of a tree, in an upright position across, and never parallel to, the branch, which it so nearly resembles as scarcely to be distinguished from it. I have occasionally seen it beneath the thick foliage of theCasuarinæ, and I have been informed that it sometimes shelters itself in the hollow trunks of theEucalypti, but I could never detect one in such a situation; I mostly found them in pairs, perched near each other on the branches of the gums, in situations not at all sheltered from the beams of the midday sun. So lethargic are its slumbers, 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 sometimes it is even taken with the hand. When aroused, it flies lazily off, with heavy flapping wings, to a neighbouring tree, and again resumes its slumbers until the approach of evening, when it becomes as animated and active as it had been previously dull and stupid. The stomach of one I dissected induced me to believe that it does not usually capture its prey while on the wing, or subsist on nocturnal insects alone, but that it is in the habit of creeping among the branches in search of such as are in a state of repose. The power it possesses of shifting the position of the outer toe backwards, as circumstances may require, is a very singular feature, and may also tend to assist them in their progress among the branches. A bird I shot at Yarrundi, in the middle of the night, had the stomach filled with fresh-captured Mantis and Locusts (PhasmidæandCicadæ), which seldom move at night, and the latter of which are generally resting against the upright boles of the trees. In other specimens I found the remains of small Coleoptera, intermingled with the fibres of the roots of what appeared to be a parasitic plant, such as would be found in decayed and hollow trees. The whole contour of the bird shows that it is not formed for extensive flight or for performing those rapid evolutions that are necessary for the capture of its prey in the air: the wing being short and concave in comparison with those of the true aërial Nightjars, and particularly with the Australian form, to which I have given the name ofEurostopodus.
COMMON GOATSUCKER.
COMMON GOATSUCKER.
“Of its mode of nidification I can speak with confidence, having seen many pairs breeding during my rambles in the woods. It makes a slightly-constructed flat nest of sticks, carelessly interwoven together, and placed at the fork of a horizontal branch of sufficient size to ensure its safety; the trees most frequently chosen are theEucalypti, but I have occasionally seen the nest on an appletree (Angophora) or a swamp-oak (Casuarina). In every instance one of the birds was sitting on the eggs, and the other perched on a neighbouring bough, both invariably asleep. That the male participates in the duty of incubation I ascertained by having shot a bird on the nest, which, on dissection, proved to be a male. The eggs are generally two in number, of a beautiful immaculate white, and of a long oval form, one inch and ten lines in length by one inch and three lines in diameter.
WHIP-POOR-WILL.
WHIP-POOR-WILL.
“Like the other species of the genus, it is subject to considerable variation in its colouring, the young, which assume the adult livery at an early age, being somewhat darker in all their markings. In some a rich tawny colour predominates, while others are more grey. The night call of this species is a hoarse noise, consisting of two distinct sounds, which cannot correctly be described. The stomach is thick and muscular, and is lined with a hair-like substance, like that of the common Cuckoo.”
Mr. Waterton gives the following notes on Goatsuckers in his “Wanderings” (p. 139):—“When the sun has sunk in the western woods, no longer agitated by the breeze, when you can only see a straggler or two of the feathered tribe hastening to join its mate, already at its roosting-place, then it is that the Goatsucker comes out of the forest, where it has sat all day long in slumbering ease, unmindful of the gay and busy scenes around it. Its eyes are too delicately formed to bear the light, and thus it is forced to shun the flaming face of day, and wait in patience till night invites him to partake of the pleasures her dusky presence brings. The harmless, unoffending Goatsucker, from the time of Aristotle down to the present day, has been in disgrace with man. Father has handed it down to son, and author to author, that this nocturnal thief subsists bymilking the flocks. Poor injured little bird of night, how sadly hast thou suffered, and how foul a stain has inattention to facts put upon thy character! Thou hast never robbed man of any part of his property, nor deprived the kid of a drop of milk.
“When the moon shines bright you may have a fair opportunity of examining the Goatsucker. You will see it close by the Cows, Goats, and Sheep, jumping up every now and then under their bellies. Approach a little nearer—he is not shy: ‘he fears no danger, for he knows no sin.’ See how the nocturnal flies are tormenting the herd, and with what dexterity he springs up and catches them as fast as they alight on the bellies, legs, and udders of the animals. Observe how quiet they stand, and how sensible they seem of his good offices, for they neither strike at him nor hit him with their tails, nor tread on him, nor try to drive him away as an uncivil intruder. Were you to dissect him and inspect his stomach, you would find no milk there. It is full of the flies which have been annoying the herd.
LYRE-TAILED NIGHTJAR.
LYRE-TAILED NIGHTJAR.
“The pretty mottled plumage of the Goatsucker, like that of the Owl, wants the lustre which is observed in the feathers of the birds of day. This at once marks him as a lover of the pale moon’s nightly beams. There are nine species here (Demerara); the largest appears nearly the size of the English Wood Owl. Its cry is so remarkable that, having once heard it, you will never forget it. When night reigns over these immeasurable wilds, whilst lying in your hammock, you will hear this Goatsucker lamenting like one in deep distress. A stranger would never conceive it to be the cry of a bird; he would say it was the departing voice of a midnight murdered victim, or the last wailing of Niobe for her poor children before she was turned into stone. Suppose yourself in hopeless sorrow, begin with a high loud note, and pronounce ‘Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!’ each note lower and lower, till the last is scarcely heard, pausing a moment or two betwixt every note,and you will have some idea of the moaning of the largest Goatsucker in Demerara. Four other species of the Goatsucker articulate some words so distinctly that they have received their names from the sentences they utter, and absolutely bewilder the stranger on his arrival in these parts. The most common one sits down close by your door, and flies, and alights three or four yards before you as you walk along the road, crying ‘Who are you, who-who-who-are-you.’ Another bids you ‘Work away, work-work-work-away.’ A third cries mournfully, ‘Willy-come-go, willy-willy-willy-come-go.’ And high up in the country a fourth tells you to ‘Whip-poor-will, whip-whip-whip-poor-will.’ You will never persuade the negro to destroy these birds, or get the Indian to let fly his arrows at them. They are birds of omen and reverential dread. Jumbo, the demon of Africa, has them under his command, and they equally obey the Yabahou, or Demeraran Indian Devil. They are receptacles for departed souls who come back again to earth, unable to rest for crimes done in their days of nature; or they are expressly sent by Jumbo or Yabahou to haunt cruel or hard-hearted monsters, and retaliate injuries received from them. If the largest Goatsucker chance to cry near the white man’s door, sorrow and grief will soon be inside; and they expect to see the master waste away with a slow consuming sickness. If it be heard close to the negro’s or Indian’s hut, from that night misfortune sits brooding over it, and they await the event in terrible suspense.”
The common Goatsucker, which is also popularly known as the “Fern Owl,” or “Nightjar,” visits England only in the spring, when it arrives from Southern Africa, and distributes itself over the country. It is by no means an uncommon bird, but is rarely seen, owing to its habit of coming out only at night, or at least in the twilight. They may then often be disturbed from the ground in a country road, when they take to flight in a heavy manner, often making a flapping noise, which appears to be caused by bringing the wings sharply together above the body of the bird. The call-note may be described as “churring,” and is disagreeable in sound; it is generally uttered by the Goatsucker when sitting on a low branch of a tree or on a railing. It should be mentioned that the Caprimulgidæ do not, as a rule, sit crosswise on a branch, but always along the latter; their favourite haunt, however, is generally the ground, and it is supposed by some naturalists that the curious pectinated claw is used by the Goatsucker for scratching the ground. Dr. Günther, F.R.S., who kept one of these birds alive, says that it frequently used its comb-like claw for this purpose. Other people have thought that its claw was intended for clearing away thedébrisof moths and other insects, which would clog the bristles on the bill. The true use of this comb-like appendage on the foot has not yet, however, been thoroughly determined.
FOOT OF THE COMMON GOATSUCKER.
FOOT OF THE COMMON GOATSUCKER.