Genus L e p id o g e n y s , J . E . Gray.
Of this genus three species, are known ; they inhabit India, the Indian Islands and Australia.
25. Lepidogenys subcristatus, G o u l d ................................................. Vol. I. PI. 25.
Baza subcristata, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part I. p. 19. 2nd edit. p. 41.
Pernis (Hyptiopus) subcristatus, Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 343.
I have no additional information respecting this noble species; all the examples of which, that have come
under my notiqe, have been obtained in the brushes of the east coast of Australia.
Genus C ir c u s , Lacep.
Two if not three kinds of Harriers inhabit Australia, consequently the number of species is nearly equal in
Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and A ustralia; those inhabiting the latter country are precisely of the same form,
and perform the same offices as their near allies do in the other parts of the world.
26. Circus assimilis, Jard. fy Selb. . . . . .
27. Circus Jardinii, G o u l d .................................................
Circus (Spilocircus) Jardinii, Kaup, Isis, 847, p. 102
Family STRIGIDÆ, Leach.
Genus S t r i x , Linn.
Vol. I. PI. 26.
Vol. I. PI. 27.
While as a general rule other countries are only inhabited by a single species of the restricted genus. Strix,
the Fauna of Australia comprises no less than four, all of which appear to be necessary in order to prevent an
inordinate increase of the smaller quadrupeds which there abound.
28. Strix castanops, Gould . . . . . . .
29. Strix personata, V i g . ..........................................................
30. Strix tenebricosus, Gould . .......................................
31. Strix delicatulus, Gould . . . . . . .
Strix flammea ? Vig. & Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 190
Genus A t h e n e , Boie.
A genus of diurnal Owls, of which five species are natives of Australia ; the smaller kinds are represented
in Europe and Asia by the Athene noctua, A. Cuculoïdes and A. Brama ; the larger kinds have no représentatives in
the northern hemisphere.
32. Athene Boobook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. I. PI. 32.
33. Athene maculata . . . . . ■ ... . . . Vol I. PI. 33.
34. Athene marmorata, Gould.
Athene marmorata, Gould in Proc. of Z'ool. Soc., Part XIV. p. 18.
All the upper surface, wings and tail dark brown, obscurely spotted with white round the back of the neck,
on the wing-coverts and scapularies ; inner webs of the primaries at their base, and the inner webs o f the lateral
tail-feathers crossed by bands, which are buff next the shaft and white towards the extremity of the webs ; face
and chin whitish ; under surface dark brown, blotched with white and sandy brown ; legs and thighs fawn-colour ;
bill horn-colour; feet yellow.
Inhabits South Australia, is much larger than A. maculata, but so nearly allied to, and so much like that
species, that I have not thought it necessary to give a separate figure of it.
Vol. I. PI. 28.
Vol. I. PI. 29.
Vol. I. PI. 30.
Vol. I. PI. 31.
35. Athene connivens . . . . . . . . .
Buteo connivens, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. iv. p. 481.
36. Athene Strenua, G o u l d ....................................................................
37. Athene, rufa, Gould . . . . . . . .
Vol. I. PI. 35.
Vol. I. PI. 36.
Order INSESSORES, Vig.
Family CAPRIMULGHLE, Vig.
Genus ¿E g o t h e l e s , Vig . 8p Horsf.
The known species of this genus are two in number, both of which; so far as has yet been ascertained, are
confined to Australia. In many of their actions, and in their nidification, they are very owl-like, depositing, like
those birds, their four or five round white eggs in the hollows of trees, without any nest.
38. ÁSgotheles N o v a e -H o lla n d ie e ........................................................................................................................ j j pj ,
Inhabits the whole of the southern parts of Australia and Van Diemen’s Land.
39. ASgotheles leucogaster, Gould . . . . y 0j j j p. „
Inhabits the northern or intertropical parts of Australia, where it represents the JE. Novce-Hollandia.
Genus P o d a r g u s , Cm.
With no one group of the Australian birds have I had so much difficulty in discriminating the species as the
genus Podargus. I t is almost impossible to determine m th certainty the older species described by Latham;
could this have been done satisfactorily, even in a single instance, it would have greatly facilitated the investigation
of the remainder. Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield regarded the specimens in the Linnean Collection'as referable to
three species, and have described them under the names of Stanleyanus, humeraUs, and Cuvieri; Latham’s description
of the species named by him megacephalus accords so well with the P. Stanleyanus, that I suspect both those
terms have been applied to one and the same species, an opinion strengthened by Latham’s remarks as to the great
size of the head and mandibles of his bird, the total length of which he states to be thirty inches, which is evidently
an error.
After examining a large number of specimens comprising individuals of all ages, I have come to the conclusion
that the Australian members of this genUs constitute six species; four of which, namely, P. megacephalus,
P. humeralis, P. Cuvieri, and P. brachypterus, are most closely allied to each other ; and two, namely, P.plumiferus
and P. Phalanoides, which present specific characters that cannot be mistaken. We have then in Australia a large
group of nocturnal birds of this form destined, as it would seem, to keep in check the great families of Cicada
and Phasmida, upon which they mainly subsist; but they do not refuse other insects, and even berries have been
found in their stomachs. They are an inanimate and sluggish group of birds, and do not procure their food on
the wing so much as other Caprimulgi, but obtain it by traversing the branches of the various trees upon which
their favourite insects reside; at intervals during the night they sit about in open places, on rails, stumps of trees,
on the roofs of houses and on the tombstones in the churchyards, and by superstitious persons are regarded as
Omens of death, their hoarse disagreeable voice adding not a little to the terrors induced by their presence.
In their nidification the Podargi differ in a most remarkable manner from all the other Caprimulgida,
inasmuch’as while the eggs of the Mgothela are deposited in the'holes pf trees, and those of the members of the
other genera of this family on the ground, these birds construct a flat nest of small sticks on the horizontal
branches of trees for the reception of theirs, which are moreover of the purest white.
Although I have no satisfactory evidence that these birds resort to a kind of hybernation for short periods
during some portions of the year, I must not omit to mention that I have been assured that they do occasionally
retire to and remain, secluded in the hollow parts of the trees; and if such should prove to be the case, it may
account for the extreme obesity of; many of the individuals I procured, which was often so great as to prevent me
from preserving their skins. I trust that these remarks will cause the subject to be investigated by those who are