NATURAL HISTORY. 223 



sucker is derived from a silly notion that they suck goats, a 

 piece of credulity only equalled by the hedgehog's supposed 

 crime of sucking cows, and the accusation against the cat of 

 sucking the breath of children. The genus Caprimulgus is 

 furnished with a kind of comb on the middle claw of its loot, 

 but for what purpose is not clearly ascertained. 



The Nightjar, or Goat- sucker, sometimes called the Fern Owl, 

 is spread over Europe, and is tolerably common in England. 

 It may be seen at the approach of evening, silently wheeling 

 round the trees, capturing the nocturnal moths and beetles ; 

 then occasionally settling and uttering its jarring cry. It ar- 

 rives in this country at the beginning of May, and leaves in De- 

 cember. It makes no nest, but lays two mottled eggs on the 

 bare ground. Its length is ten inches. The Whip-poor- Will 

 and the Chuck- Y\ ill's- Widow both belong to this family. 



These tw r o birds derive their singular names from their cry, 

 which is said closely to imitate the words that have been as- 

 signed to them as their names. Of course the English language 

 must feel itself highly honoured that an American bird should 

 prefer the language of the " Britisher" to that of the Delaware 

 or the Sioux. Both the birds fly by night, or rather in the 

 dusk of the evening, and like the owl are much distressed by 

 being forced to face a brilliant light. The Chuck-Will's- Widow 

 is partially migratory, and dwells in the more southern parts of 

 America during the winter. Audubon relates that this bird 

 applies its enormous mouth to rather an unexpected use, viz., 

 that of removing its eggs, if it finds that they have been dis- 

 turbed. Of this curious circumstance he was an eye-witness. 

 He saw the bird that first discovered that an intruder had 

 touched the eggs wait for its mate, and then saw each of them 

 take an egg in its mouth and convey it off. 



M A II T I X 



The HirundinidsD are remarkable for their great power of 

 wing, their wide mouths, and short legs. In the genus Cyp- 

 selus, the toes are all directed forward, and the tarsus is thickly 

 feathered. The whole of their plumage is constructed with a 

 view to rapid and active motion. The feathers of their bodies 



