PASSERINiE. 289 



it becomes torpid during the winter, and even passes that season 

 under water in the bottom of marshes, appears to be certain. 

 Among the Swallows foreign to Europe, we should remark, 



Hir. esculenta, L. A very small species from the Archipelago 

 of India, with a forked tail; brown above; beneath, and the tip 

 of the tail, whitish; celebrated for its nest, composed of a 

 whitish gelatine, arranged in layers, and constructed with a 

 particular species of fucus which it previously grinds and ma- 

 cerates. The nutritious qualities attributed to these nests in 

 China, have rendered them an important article in the com- 

 merce of that country.(I) 

 There are some Swallows in which the tail is nearly square, (2) 

 and others where it is short, square, and the quills terminating in a 

 point.(3) 



Caprimulgusj, Lin. (4) 



The Goatsuckers have the same light, soft plumage, shaded with 

 grey and brown, that characterizes the nocturnal birds. Their eyes 

 are large; the commissure of the beak extending still higher up than 

 that of the Swallow, and furnished with stiff mustachios, is capable 

 of engulphing the largest insects, which are retained there by a 

 glutinous saliva; the nostrils, formed like small tubes, are at its 

 base. Their wings are long; their feet, short, with feathered tarsi, 



(1) Here come: ffir. americana, Wils., V, xxxviii, 1, 2, or rufa, Vieill., Am. 

 3 ; another Hir. rufa, Enl. 724, 1; Hir. fulva, Vieill. Am. 32; Hir. fasciata, 

 Enl. 724,2; Hir. violacea, Enl. 722, or H. purpurea, Wils., V, xxxix, 1, 2; 

 Hir. chalybsea, Enl. 454, 2 ; Hir. sencgalensis, Enl. 310 ; Hir. capensis, Enl. 723, 

 2; Hir. indica, Lath. Syn. II, pi. Ivi ; Hir. panayana, Sonner. Voy. I, pi. 

 Ixxxvi ; Hir. subis, Edvv., 120; Hi?: ambrosiaca, liriss., II, pi. Ixv, fig-. 4;^ Hir. 

 iapera, lb., fig. 3 ; Hir. nigra. Id. pi. Ixvi, fig-. 3 ; Hir. daurica ; Hirondelle d 

 front roux,Y3.i\\. Afr.j245, 2 ; Hir. de marais, Id. lb. 246, 2 ; Hir. kuppee, Id. lb. 

 247; Cyps. senex, T. 397; Hir. fucata, Tem., Col., 161, 1 ; Hir. jugularis, Pr. 

 Max., Col., 209, 2^ Hir. javanica. Lath. Col. 83, 2; Hir. melanolenca, Pr. Max., 

 Col. 209, 2; Hir. minuta, Pr. Max., Col. lb., 1 ,Hir. bicolor, Vieill. Am. 31, or 

 H. viridis, Wils., V, xxxviii, 3. 



(2) Hir. dominicencis, Enl. 545, 1 ; Hir. iorquata, Enl. 723, 1 ; Hir. kucoptera, 

 Enl. 546, 1 ; Hir. francica, Enl. 544, 2 ; Hir. boi-bonica ,- H. americana ,- Hir. 

 fauve, Vaill. Af. 246, 1. 



(3) Hir. acuta, Enl. 544, 1 ; Cypselus giganteus, Col. 364 ; Hir. albicollis, 

 Vieill., Galer. 120, or Cyps. collaris, Pr. Max., Col. 195. 



(4) Caprimulgiis, Goatsucker, Mgothelas, names which derive their origin from 

 the whimsical idea entertained by the vulgar, of their sucking Goats and even 

 Cows. 



N.B. M. Vigors and Horsfield make a genus (^uotheles,) of the Caprimulgus 

 Novm-Hollandise, Philip., Bet. B., 270. 

 Vol. I. 2M 



