638 CAPRIMULGUS EUROPiEUS. 



out. In many parts of the southern and middle divisions of 

 Scotland, it is not very uncommon. Both Mr Barclay and the 

 Rev. Mr Gordon inform me that it has often been met with in 

 Morayshire. Even so far north as Shetland Mr Dunn saw a 

 specimen ; but in the northern Hebrides 1 have not heard of 

 its existence. 



It is chiefly found on furzy commons, wild bushy heaths, 

 and broken hilly ground covered w^ith ferns, especially in the 

 neighbourhood of thickets and woods. Its food and its manner 

 of procuring it, are well known. The substances which I have 

 found in its stomach were remains of coleopterous insects of 

 many species, some very large, as Geotrupes stercorarius, moths 

 often of great size also, and occasionally larva?. I have seen 

 the inner surface slightly bristled with the hairs of caterpillars, 

 as in the Cuckoo. As no fragments of the hard parts of these 

 animals ever occur in the intestine, it follows that the refuse is 

 ejected by the mouth. Towards evening the Goatsucker may 

 be seen skimming along the edges of the woods with a light 

 and wavering flight, winding in varied curves, in the manner 

 of a Swallow, but wnth less velocity, and by its noiseless move- 

 ments also reminding the observer of that of the Owls. As it 

 proceeds, it now and then emits a shrill wdiistling cry. It is 

 seldom that more than two or three individuals are seen at a 

 time ; but Montagu remarks that he observed " in Scotland 

 eight or ten on wing together in the dusk of the evening, skim- 

 ming over the surface of the ground in all directions, like the 

 Swallows, in pursuit of insects." 



During the day, it generally rests on the ground, among 

 furze or fern, or on the branch or bough of a tree, on which it 

 reposes in a direction parallel to its axis. This arises from 

 the small size and disposition of the toes, which prevent it from 

 grasping a branch in the ordinary manner. On the ground it 

 will often remain crouched until a person goes almost close up 

 to it, and when disturbed it flies off with a wavering buoyant 

 motion, and generally alights on a tree, if there be one not far 

 off. 



Mr Harley has favoured me w4th the following notes of ob- 

 servations made by him in the neighbourhood of Leicester : — 



