_J. & E. Gould del._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
PODARGUS HUMERALIS, _Vig. and Horsf._
Tawny-shouldered Podargus.
_Caprimulgus gracilis?_ Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 58.
_Gracile Goatsucker?_ Ib. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 263.—Steph.
Cont. of Shaw’s Zool., vol. x. p. 145.—Lath. Gen. Hist.,
vol. vii. p. 344.
_Podargus? gracilis?_ Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Zool., vol. xiii. p. 93.
_Podargus Australis?_ Ib., vol. xiii. p. 92.
_Podargus cinereus?_ Cuv. Règn. Anim., pl. 4. fig. 1.—Vieill. Nouv.
Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxvii. p. 151. pl. G. 37. fig.
3.—Vieill. Ency. Méth., p. 547.
_Cold-River Goatsucker_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 369.
_Podargus Humeralis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
198.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 88.—Swains.
Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 338.
So great a similarity reigns throughout the _Podargi_ inhabiting
Australia, that it is most difficult to distinguish them; and after a
minute examination of a great number of specimens it appears to me that
there are five species, only two of which are inhabitants of New South
Wales, and to these, in my opinion, the various names of the older
authors are referrible. But as it must ever remain a matter of
uncertainty as to which these names have been applied, I have preferred
to retain for the present bird that proposed by Messrs. Vigors and
Horsfield.
The Tawny-shouldered Podargus may be distinguished by the greater
breadth of its markings, by the decided admixture of tawny in its
colouring, by the feathers of the head having a small round spot of
white at the tip, and by the more boldly-marked tips of the coverts. It
is plentifully dispersed over New South Wales, where it is not
restricted to any peculiar character of country, but inhabits alike the
thick brushes near the coast, the hilly districts, and the thinly-wooded
plains of the interior. I found it breeding on the low swampy islands
studding the mouth of the Hunter, and on the Apple-tree (_Angophora_)
flats of Yarrundi, near the Liverpool Range. In their habits and mode of
life the _Podargi_ differ very considerably from the true Nightjars, and
also in many particulars from _Ægotheles_.
Like the rest of the genus, the Tawny-shouldered Podargus 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, and which
it so nearly resembles as scarcely to be distinguishable from it. I have
occasionally seen it beneath the thick foliage of the _Casuarinæ_, and I
have been informed that it sometimes shelters itself in the hollow
trunks of the _Eucalypti_, 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 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 food consists of insects of various kinds; but in what way
they are obtained is uncertain, though the contents of the stomach of
one I dissected induce me to believe that it does not usually capture
its prey while on the wing, or subsist upon 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; and an examination of the tail will, I
think, serve to strengthen this supposition, since it in some degree
resembles the form and structure of that organ in many of the climbing
birds. 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 (_Phasmidæ_ and _Cicadæ_),
which never 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 of _Eurostopodus_.
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 tree most frequently chosen is an _Eucalyptus_,
but I have occasionally seen the nest on an Apple-tree (_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 accidentally shot a bird on the nest without
being aware it was so occupied, 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.
The sexes so closely resemble each other both in size and plumage, that
a separate description is unnecessary. 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.
The night-call of this species is a loud hoarse noise, consisting of two
distinct sounds, which cannot be correctly described.
The stomach is thick and muscular, and is lined with a thick hair-like
substance like that of the Common Cuckoo.
All the upper surface brown, speckled with greyish white and darker
brown, the feathers of the crown having a blackish brown stripe down the
centre terminating in a minute spot of white; wings similar to the upper
surface, but lighter and with bolder black and buff spots, the coverts
having an irregular spot of white and tawny on the outer web near the
tip, which, as they lie over each other, form indistinct bands across
the wing; primaries brownish black, with light-coloured shafts, and with
a series of whitish spots on the outer webs, between which they are
margined with tawny; their inner webs irregularly barred with the same;
tail tawny brown, sprinkled with lighter brown, and crossed with a
series of irregular bands of blackish brown, sprinkled with dusky white,
each feather having a spot of brownish black near the extremity, and
tipped with white; face and all the under surface greyish white, crossed
by numerous narrow and irregular bars of tawny, and with a stripe of
brown down the centre of each feather, the latter colour being most
conspicuous and forming a kind of semilunar mark down each side of the
chest; bill light brown, tinged with purple; inside of the mouth pale
yellow; tongue long, transparent, and of the same colour with the inside
of the mouth; irides brownish orange; feet light brownish olive.
In some the rich tawny colour predominates, while others are more grey.
The bird is represented of the natural size, asleep, in the position it
is usually seen during the day.
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