inhabits Central and part of South America, requires re- mark, since it has tarsi of sufficient length to enable it to run swiftly on the ground, while the legs of most birds of the Family are so short that they can make but a shuffling progress. 11¢ lrothrcplc s, with the unique form of wing possessed by the male, needs mention. Notice must also be taken of two African species, referred by some ornithologists to as many genera (.llucrodipleryr and Cos- metorm's), though probably one genus would suffice for both. The males of each of them are characterized by the wonderful development of the ninth primary in either wing, which reaches in fully adult specimens the extra- ordinary length of 17 inches or more. The former of. these birds, the 0. macrodz'pter-us of Afzelius, is considered to belong to the west coast of Africa, and the shaft of the elongated remiges is bare for the greater part of its length, retaining the web, in a spatulate form, only near the tip. The latter, to which the specific name of vexillarius was given by Mr Gould, has been found on the east coast of that continent, and is reported to have occurred in Madagascar and Socotra. In this the remigial streamers do not lose their barbs, and as a few of the next quills are also to some extent elongated, the bird, when flying, is said to look as though it had four wings. Specimens of both are rare in collections. and no traveller seems to have had the opportunity of studying the habits of either so as
to suggest a reason for this marvellous sexual development.The second group of Caprimulgince, those which are but poorly or not at all furnished with rictal bristles, contains about five genera, of which there is here only room to par- ticularize Lyncornis of the Old World and C'Iwrdiles of the New. The species of the former are remarkable for the tuft of feathers which springs from each side of the head, above and behind the ears, so as to give the bird an appear- ance like some of the “Horned ” Owls—those of the genus Scops, for example; and remarkable as it is to find certain forms of two Families, so distinct as are the Strz'gz‘da’ and the Caprimulgirlze, resembling each other in this singular external feature, it is yet more remarkable to note that in some groups of the latter, as in some of the former, a very curious kind of dimorphism takes place. In either case this has been frequently asserted to be sexual, but on that point doubt may fairly be entertained. Certain it is that in some groups of Goatsuckers, as in some. groups of Owls. indivi duals of the same species are found in plumage of two entirely different hues—rufous and grey. The only ex- planation as yet offered of this fact is that the difference is sexual, but, as just hinted, evidence to that effect is con- flicting. It must not, however, be supposed that this com- mon feature, any more than that of the existence of tufted forms in each group, indicates any close relationship between them. The resemblances may be due to the same causes, concerning which future observers may possibly enlighten us, but at present we must regald them as analo- gies not homologies. The species of Lyncm'm's inhabit the Malay Archipelago, one, however, occurring also in China. Of Ohm-diles the best known species is the Night-hawk of North America (C. virginirmus or C. papetue), which has a wide range from Canada to Brazil. Others are found in the Antilles and in South America. The general habits of all these birds agree with those of the typical Goatsuckers.
We have next to consider the birds forming the genus Podargus and those allied to it, whether they be regarded asa distinct Family, or as a Subfamily of Caprimulgidw. As above stated, they have feet Constructed as those of birds normally are, and their sternum seems to present the con- stant though comparatively trivial difference of having its posterior margin elongated into two pairs of processes, while only one pair is found in the true Goatsuckers. Podargus includes the bird (1’. cm'ieri) knOwn from its cry as Morepork to Tasmanian colonists,[1] and several other species, the num- ber of which is doubtful, from Australia and New Guinea. They have comparatively powerful bills, and it would secm feed to some extent on fruits and berries, though they mainly subsist on insects, chiefly Cicadw and I’lmsma'dw. They also differ from the true Goatsuekers in having the outer toes partially reversible, and they are said to build a flat nest on the horizontal branch of a tree for the reception of their eggs, which are of a Spotless white. Apparently allied to I’oclargus, but differng among other respects in its mode of nidification, is .b'gvlthelc’s, which belongs also to the Australian Subregion; and further to the northward, extending throughout the Malay Archipelago and into India, comes Batrachoslomus, wherein we again meet with species having aural tufts somewhat like Lym’ornis. The [’mlur- gince are thought by some to be represented in the New World by the genus A'yctibius, of which several species occur from the Antilles and Central America to Brazil. Finally, it may be stated that none of the Caprimulgiclw seem to occur in Polynesia or in New Zealand, though there is scarcely any other part of the world suited to their habits in which members of the Family are not found.
GOBELIN, the name of a family of dyers, who in all probability came originally from Rheims, and who in the 15th century established themselves in the Faubourg Saint Marcel, Paris, on the banks of the Bievre. The first head of the firm was named Jehan, and died in 1476. He dis- covered a peculiar kind of scarlet dye, and he expended so much money on his establishment that it was named by the common people la fol-i6 Gabe/in. To the dye works there was added in the 16th century a manufactory of tapestry. So rapidly did-the wealth of the family increase, that in the third or fourth generation some of them forsook their trade and purchased titles of nobility. More than one of their number held offices of state, among others Balthasar, who became successively treasurer general of artillery, treasurer extraordinary of war, councillor secretary of the king. chancellor of the exehequer, councillor of state, and president of the chamber of accounts, and who in 1601 received from Henry II. the lands and lordship of Brie- comte-Robert. He died in 1603. The name of the Gobelins as dyers cannot be found later than the end of the 17th century. In 1662 the works in the Faubourg Saint Marcel. with the adjoining grounds, were purchased by Colbert on behalf of Louis XIV , and transformed into a general upholstery manufactory, in which designs both in tapestry and in all kinds of furniture were executed under the superintendence of the royal painter Lebrun. On account of the pecuniary embarrassments of Louis X IV., the establishment was closed in 1694, but it was reopened in 1697 for the manufacture of tapestry, chiefly for royal use and for presentation. During the Revolution and the reign of Napoleon the manufacture was suspended, but it was revived by the Bourbons, and in 1826 the manufacture of carpets was added to that of tapestry. In 1871 the building was partly burned by the Communists.
See Lacordaire, Notice histor'iquc saw [as manufactures i771p('rialc3 dc lapisscrz'c dcs Gobclin ct dc tapis dc la Savomzcrz'r, prccc'rléc (In. mtnquuc dcs tapz'sscrics 9111' 3/ soul expOSécs, Paris, 1853 ; and also the article Tapestry.
graphers to a vast stretch of desert in Central Asia, which has its western limits in the neighbourhood of 75° E. long., and its eastern somewhere between 1140 and 115°. Like many other geographical designations, the word is not only of doubtful origin, but in conventional usage has modified its meaning. According to Sir T. Douglas Forsyth, it is
originally the Turki for “great” ; and Ilichthofen informs
- ↑ In New Zealand, however, this name is given to an Owl (Secle glauz nova-:elaudiw).
