that connect the Orders and Families of Birds. 407 
the inferior strength of its organization corresponds with the in- 
ferior nature of its prey. When we search, on the other hand, 
among the Perchers for that point where they approximate the 
Owls, we at once light upon a group, the Caprimulgus of Lin- 
næus, whose general appearance and habits point out the affinity. 
The nocturnal and predatory manners* of this genus, the hawk- 
ing flight, the legs feathered to the talons, the large ears and 
eyest, the very disk 1 that surrounds the face, and the pectina- 
tion of the external quill-feathers, observable in some of the spe- 
cies, the general softness of the plumage, together with its pe- 
culiarly striking colour and markings, produce a similarity be- 
tween it and Strix that has attracted the eye of the common 
observer no less than of the naturalist. ‘The provincial namesK 
of this genus have generally a reference to this resemblance ; 
while the earlier scientific describers|| of the different species 
have for the most part ranked them with the Owls. I know not 
whether the singular character observable in some of the species 
of this family, the serrated nail of the middle toe€, may not be 
cited 
* << Fures nocturni." Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. x. cap. 21. 
+ “ Ces oiseaux ont de grands yeux et de grandes oreilles; comme les Chouettes, ils 
ont la vue offusquée par la clarté du soleil” Temminck, Man. p. 456. 
+ * The eyes are surrounded with a disk of feathers, not unlike those of Owls.” La- 
tham, Syn. vol. ii. p. 591. Art. Jamaica Goatsucker. 
§ “ Caprimulgus nostras vulgaris et Aldrovandi. Salopiensibus, the Fern-ot/ ; Ebo- 
racensibus, the Churn-owl, a strepitu quem inter volandum edit." Raz Syn. Av. p. 26. 
— The following are common provincial names ; viz. Night-bawk, Dorr-hawk, Churn- 
owl, Goat-owl. See Montague, Ornith. Diction. Art. Goatsucker. 
il ** Noctua minor ex pallido et fusco varia. Sloane, Voy. of Jam. p. 996. Ulula 
Americana ex pallido et fusco varia. Barr. Ornith. Class iii. Gen. v. Sp. 5. Strix 
capite levi plumis griseo-albidis labiorum pilosis. Browne, Nat. Hist. of Jam. p. 473. 
‘Strix sylvatica, major, pulla. Barr. Hist. Fr. Eq. p. 147.” These are among the 
synonyms of the Caprimulgus Jamaicensis of Brisson. 
€ The common Barn Owl, (Strix flammea, Linn.,) possesses the same character of 
serrated unguis; and some other species of the Sérigidæ exhibit somewhat of the ru- 
diments 
