290 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
Family CaPRIMULGID. 
NicuTsar, Caprimulgus europeus. This very odd- 
looking bird, the only one of the Caprimulgide that 
can with any propriety be considered British, is 
tolerably numerous in this county, but rather local 
in its distribution, as it chiefly delights in rough and 
stony places; and in such places I have generally 
found it, as amongst the rough stones, fern and 
heather of the Quantock Hills, where it is mueh 
more numerous than it is in the Vale. 
The name which I have chosen for this bird is 
perhaps the one now most commonly used, but it 
rejoices in more names than any bird in the British 
list—some of them merely local, and some being 
much more general: besides the usual name “ Night- 
jar,” it is. called ‘‘ Goatsucker,” “ Fern Owl,” “ Dor 
Hawk,” “Churn Owl,” “ Goat Owl,” “ Wheelbird,” 
“Night Hawk” and “ Night Crow,” the latter of 
which denominations 1s perhaps the more common 
here. The name ‘“ Goatsucker,” as well as the Latin 
names applied both to this bird and generally to the 
family, “ Caprimulgus” and “ Caprimulgide,” must 
have arisen from a popular error, which, as Bewick 
says, has no foundation but in ignorance and super- 
stition. 
The Nightjar is a short summer visitor to England, 
not arriving till the middle of May, and departing in 
September: I have shot one as late as the 18th of 
