COMMON NIGHTJAR. 309 
CAPRIMULGUS EUROPAUS. 
COMMON NIGHTJAR. 
(PLatE 17.) 
Caprimulgus caprimulgus, Briss. Orn, ii. p. 470, pl. 44 (1760). 
Caprimulgus europeeus, Linn, Syst. Nat. i. p. 346 (1766); et auctorum pluri- 
morum —Gimelin, Scopoli, Bonaparte, Temminck, Naumann, Newton, Dresser, 
&e. 
Hirundo caprimulgus (Briss.), Tunst. Orn. Brit. p. 2 (1771). 
Caprimulgus punctatus, Wolf, Taschenb. i. p. 284 (1810). 
Caprimulgus vulgaris, Viel. Faun. Frang. i. p. 140 (1828), 
Caprimulgus maculatus, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 181 (1831), 
Nyctichelidon europzeus (Linn.), Renme, Mont. Orn. Dict, p, 835 (1881). 
The Common Nightjar or Goatsucker is a summer migrant to the 
British Islands, and is found more or less commonly in almost every county, 
but is more numerous in the south of England than in the north. It is, 
nevertheless, tolerably common on many of the inner islands on the west 
coast of Scotland, and is an accidental visitor to the Orkneys and Shetland ; 
but on the Outer Hebrides it has only been known to occur once, in North 
Uist. In Ireland it is more local than in England, but is found in suitable 
districts throughout the country. In the Channel Islands it is best 
known on autumn migration, but a few are said to breed there. 
The Common Nightjar breeds throughout Europe and South-west 
Siberia. In Scandinavia and West Russia it is found as far north as lat. 
63°*s but in the Ural Mountains and the valley of the Yenesay it has not 
been recorded further north than lat. 59°, nor does it appear to occur 
further east than Irkutsk. It also breeds in Turkestan, the extreme north- 
west of India, Afghanistan, the Persian highlands, Palestine, and Asia 
Minor. It passes through Scind, Arabia, and North-east Africa on migra- 
tion. It winters in North-west Africa, where a few apparently remain to 
breed; and in South Africa, where it has been recorded from the Cape 
Colony, the Transvaal, and Natal. Examples from Central Asia appear to 
be slightly paler in colour than those from Europe, and have been distin- 
guished as C. europeus, var. unwini. The Common Goatsucker has many 
* Dresser’s statement that the Common Nightjar “is not uncommon, and breeds near 
Archangel,” which Newton slightly expands by saying that it reaches Archangel, appears 
to be solely based upon the existence of some eggs of this species in the museum at that 
town, most probably picked up on the roadside by some traveller from St, Petersburg. 
This evidence cannot be considered satisfactory, inasmuch as this bird is not recorded 
from Archangel by Lilljeborg, Alston and Harvie-Brown, Goebel, Meves, or Hencke, the 
latter of whom devoted several years to the ornithology of this district. 
