The Birds of Australia, Vol. 2 of 7

by John Gould

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.