. To the River Plate and back; the narrative of a scientific mission to South America . erethe people called it the Diablotin. Students since thenhave very carefully studied its anatomy, and it hasbeen separated from the Goatsucker Family, or Capri-nnili^ida, and placed in a sej)arate family, the Stcalor-uithida. The bird, while it jx)ssesses many of thecharacteristics of the Nightjar and \\ also certain strong affinities to the Owls, and isregarded as jx^rhaps giving evidence jxjinting to thefact that the Goatsuckers and the Owls may havespnmg from a common ancestr\. the char
. To the River Plate and back; the narrative of a scientific mission to South America . erethe people called it the Diablotin. Students since thenhave very carefully studied its anatomy, and it hasbeen separated from the Goatsucker Family, or Capri-nnili^ida, and placed in a sej)arate family, the Stcalor-uithida. The bird, while it jx)ssesses many of thecharacteristics of the Nightjar and \\ also certain strong affinities to the Owls, and isregarded as jx^rhaps giving evidence jxjinting to thefact that the Goatsuckers and the Owls may havespnmg from a common ancestr\. the characteristics ofwhich in part sur\*ive in this curious bird. It is alxMit 332 To the River Plate and Back as large as a crow. It is noctural, slumbering all dayin dark caves, whence it issues at dusk, going forth insearch of its food which consists of the oily fruits ofvarious tropical trees. In quest of this food it travelsenormous distances, being very swift of wing; and onewriter, who studied its habits, states that he found inthe stomach of a specimen which he obtained at Caripe a. Fig. 31 Guacharo (Steatornis steatornis) \ nat. size. nut of a tree which he was quite sure does not grownearer the cavern than eighty leagues, or two hundredand forty miles away. The indigestible seeds arevoided upon the floor of the caves in which these birdscongregate, and here they sprout up, and being de-prived of light, cover the floor of the cave with a curiousmass of bleached vegetation like the shoots of potatoeswhich have sprouted in a cellar. The young birds soonafter they are hatched become a mass of animate fat;at this time the Indians resort to the caves and slaughterthe young by the thousands, melt the fat in pots at themouth of the cavern, and preserve it for use both incooking and m lighting lamps. This fat is said not to Trinidad 333 turn rancid, and is capable of being kept for a year nrmore in limpid purity. Some i)eople say that thesquabs are delicate eating. It is, however, re
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbrazild, bookyear1913
