. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. 196 Fig. 93.—Sternum of Moth-hnnter. inward. Tlie claw of the middle toe is commonly pectinated on its inner edge ; and the outer toe has only four phalanges, a conformation extremely rare among Birds. They live solitarily [or rather per- manently in pairs] and are crepuscular in their time of action, pursuing Moths and other nocturnal insects : deposit few eggs [we believe always two in number] on the bare ground, and have gene- rally singular voices. [The Moth-hunters bear the same relationship to the Swifts
. Cuvier's animal kingdom : arranged according to its organization. Animals. 196 Fig. 93.—Sternum of Moth-hnnter. inward. Tlie claw of the middle toe is commonly pectinated on its inner edge ; and the outer toe has only four phalanges, a conformation extremely rare among Birds. They live solitarily [or rather per- manently in pairs] and are crepuscular in their time of action, pursuing Moths and other nocturnal insects : deposit few eggs [we believe always two in number] on the bare ground, and have gene- rally singular voices. [The Moth-hunters bear the same relationship to the Swifts (not to the Swallows) that the Owls do 10 the Hawks, and have similar great cœca ; also a simple vocal organ, and general anatomy very much resembling that of the Cuckoos, as will be partly seen by comparison of the figures we have given of the sternal apparatus of both. They have only ten tail-feathers ; and the young are covered with down when first excluded.] The common European species (C. Europceus, Lin.) [is remarkable for the loud sound it emits, like the burr of a spinning-wheel. Another, t'. ruficoWs, Tern., visits south-western Europe. The former is the latest to arrive in spring of all our summer visitants, rarely appearing before the end of May. Among till" foreign species, a great number have longer tarsi, adapted for running on the ground. The tail varies much in shape, and there is one, from Africa, remarkable for a feather twice the lengtli of the body, which arises from the carpus of each wing, and is barbed only at the end ; another has prodigiously developed secondaries ; and there are some with an appearance of aigrettes on the head, which constitute the Lyncornis of Gould. The Guacharos {Steatomis, Humboldt)— Have a stronger beak, and toes separate to their articulation, the thumb still directed inward. These curious birds inhabit deep caverns in South America, subsist on berries, and the fat of the young is pro- cured upon a large scale to be emp
Size: 1561px × 1600px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookpublishe, booksubjectanimals
