222 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Order II. ... PASSERES. 



Tribe I FISSIROSTRES. Lat. Split-bills.) 



Sub-tribe I. . FISSIROSTRES NOCTURNE. 



Family I. ... Caprimulgidse. (Lat. Goat-sucker kind.) 



Sub-family a. Caprimulginoe. 



CAPRIMULGUS. 



Europaeus (Lat. European), the Goat-sucker. 



The Fissirostres are so called from the peculiar formation cf 

 their mouths, which appear as if they had been slit up from 

 their ordinary termination to beyond the eyes, much resembling 

 the mouth of a frog. In the insect-eating Fissirostres this for- 

 mation is admirably adapted for capturing their active prey, 

 and in the Kingfishers it is equally adapted for securing the 

 slippery inhabitants of the waters. 



The CaprimulgidaB are nocturnal in their habits, chasing 

 their insect prey by night or at the dusk, when the chaffers 

 and large moths are on the wing. In order to prevent the 

 escape of the insect when taken, the mouth is fringed with 

 long stiff bristles, called " vibrissse." The name of Goat- 



