GOATSUCKERS AXD ALLIED SPECIES. 629 



In the order of Volitatores, the Caprimulginse bear the same 

 relation to the Hirundinae as the Striginae bear to the Falco- 

 uinae in the order Raptores. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES. 



GENUS I. CAPRIMULGUS. GOATSUCKER, 



Bill feeble, both mandibles very slender ; the mouth ex- 

 tremely wide, the gape-line extending to beneath the middle 

 of the eye ; nostrils elliptical, prominent ; wings long and 

 pointed ; the second quill longest ; the first longer than the 

 third ; tail long, rounded ; tarsus very short, feathered in part ; 

 third toe much longer, with its claw pectinate on the inner 

 edge. 



1. Caprimulgns europccus. European Goatsucker. Grey, 

 minutely dotted and undulated with dusky, variegated with 

 yellowish-red; the head and back with longitudinal black 

 streaks. 



