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- 

 naeus, 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:]: 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 names § 

 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 toef , may not be 



cited 



* " Fures uocturni." Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. x. cap. 21. 



+ " Ces oiseaux ont de grands yeus et de grandes oreilles'; comme les Chouettes, its 

 ont la vue offusquee par la clarte du soleil." Temminck, Man. p. 436. 



t " The eyes are surrounded with a disk of feathers, not unlike those of Owls." La- 

 tham, St/n. vol. ii. p. 591. Art. Jamaica Goatsucker. 



^ " Caprimulgus nostras vulgaris etAldrovandi. Salopiensibus, the Fer«-oziy/; Ebo- 

 racensibus, the Churn-owl, a strepitu quem inter volandum edit." Raii Si/n. Av. p. 26". 

 The following are common provincial names ; viz. Night-hawk, Dorr-hawk, Churn- 

 owl, Goat-owl. See Montague, Ornith. Diction. Art. Goatsucker. 



II " Noctua minor ex pallido et fusco varia. Shane, Voy. of Jam. p. 2()6. Vlula 

 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. 

 Sfm sylvatica, major, puUa. Barr. Hist. Fr. Eq. p. 147." These are among the 

 synonyms of the Caprimulgus Jamaicensis of Brisson. 



II The common Barn Owl, {Strix flammea, Linn.,) possesses the same character of 

 serrated unguis; and some other species of the StrigidtE exhibit somewhat of the ru- 

 diments 



