Podargus

Podargus, a genus of birds nearly allied to the true Goatsuckers. They are at home in New Guinea and Australia, are arboreal and nocturnal in their habits, and feed on large insects, which are mostly caught about the trees. Some of them are so sleepy during the day that Gould says they may be occasionally caught by the hand, or one may be shot without waking its neighbour. They make rough nests in the eucalyptus or casuarina trees, lay two eggs of spotless white, and the work of hatching is shared by both sexes. A podargus is usually larger than a goatsucker, and has a wider gape; the oil-gland seems to be absent, and the rump bears two remarkable tufts of small brittle feathers, known as 'powder-down patches.' One of the Australian species, P. cavierei, disturbs the night by a hoarse cry resembling the syllables More Pork or Mopoke, by which names it is therefore known in New South Wales.