294 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



Note. — The third order, Psittaci (parrots and their allies), 

 is not represented in New England. Its members have toes in 

 pairs, and an essentially raptorial bill. (See Chap. III.) 



§ 20. The Caprimulgidae (or goatsuckers, of -which the 

 American species are typical, and belong to the subfamily 

 CaprimulgincB) and the Cyjjselidce (or swifts, §21, pi. 1, fig. 23) 

 form a natural group possessing the following features : gape 

 extensive, and about six times as long as the culmen (or upper 

 outline of the bill) ; feet small and weak ; primaries ten ; 

 tail-feathers ten. The goatsuckers may be distinguished from 

 the swifts by the more or less bristled bill, the feet slightly 

 webbed at the base, and the elevated hind-toe. This last fea- 

 ture, however, also belongs to the Chceturince, a subfamily con- 

 taining the Chimney " Swallows," and differing further from 

 the true swifts in having unfeathered tarsi. The Chceturce 

 (§21, I) have mucronate tail-feathers, in which the shaft pro- 

 jects beyond the webs. (PI. 1, fig. 22.) 



The sioifts probably possess powers of locomotion superior 

 to those of any other living creatures. With their long, pointed 

 wings, they are said to fly sometimes at the rate of two hun- 

 dred and fifty miles in an hour. They are strictly insectivo- 

 rous and migratory, and more or less colonial. " They never 

 perch, but man}' resort to hollows, as in trees, for the purpose 

 of roosting and of nesting." Their nests are attached to some 

 more or less perpendicular surface, and are constructed partly 

 or even wholly of a gummy saliva. The eggs are white, and 

 rather elongated. 



The goatsuckers are generally nocturnal or crepuscular, and, 

 as a rule, do not fly about in the day-time, unless when cloudy. 

 When resting, they do so on the ground, or perch lengthwise 

 on a bough or fence. Th&y are insectivorous, capturing moths 

 and smaller insects at some height in the air, also migratory 

 and often gregarious. The}'' are larger than the swifts, who 

 are also somewhat crepuscular, and their plumage is much va- 

 riegated. They build no nest, but lay two eggs on the ground, 

 or near it. There are two American genera. 



