627 



CAPRIMULGIN^. 



GOATSUCKERS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 



Birds of this family are as readily recognised as those con- 

 stituting the Falconinre, Striginse, Hirundinae, or any other 

 of the most strictly natural families, so that there is not much 

 necessity for entering here upon copious illustrative details, 

 especially as in Britain there is only a single representative of 

 it. The following appear to be the most important general 

 characters. 



The body is very small in proportion to the plumage ; the 

 neck rather short ; the head very large, broad and depressed. 

 The nostrils elliptical, prominent and marginate ; the eyes ex- 

 tremely large, the eyelids ciliated with slender barbate plume- 

 lets ; the aperture of the ear of great size, and resembling that 

 of many Owls. The mouth opens to beneath the centre of the 

 eyes, and is of extreme width. The bill is very short, much 

 depressed, generally feeble, the horny part being small, but in 

 some large and very strong ; the upper mandible with the dor- 

 sal outline convex, the ridge rather narrow, the edges inflected 

 toward the end, the tip very narrow and deflected ; the lower 

 mandible smaller, with the angle extremely large, the crura 

 slender, the edges inflected toward the end, the tip small and 

 deflected. 



Palate nearly flat behind, concave, covered with a smooth 

 transparent membrane. Tongue extremely small, slender, ta- 

 pering to an obtuse point. Qi^sophagus wide, without crop, 

 very thin ; stomach large, roundish ; its muscular coat very 

 thin, and composed of a single series of fasciculi; the epithelium 

 very hard, with prominent longitudinal rugoe. Intestine short, 

 wide, and extremely thin ; coeca large, oblong toward the end, 

 narrow at the base ; cloaca globular. Trachea of nearly uni- 

 form width, and destitute of inferior laryngeal muscles. 



