THE NIGHTJAR 125 



it is familiarly known as the Martlet, the figure of which is a device 

 of frequent occurrence in heraldic coats of arms, and denotes that 

 the original wearer of the distinction served as a crusader pilgrim. 

 In Arabia it is still known 1)>- the name of Hadji, or Pilgrim, to 

 denote its migratory habits. 



FAMILY CAPRIMULGIDiE 

 THE NIGHTJAR 



CAPRIMULGUS EUROP^US 



General plumage asli-grey, spotted and barred with black, brown and reddish 

 brown ; first three primaries with a large white patch, on the inner web ; 

 two outer tail-feathers on each side tipped with white. Length ten inches 

 and a quarter; breadth twent^'-two inches. Eggs whitish, beautifully 

 marbled with brown and ash. 



This bird used to be described as a nocturnal robber who finds 

 his w^ay into the goat-pens, sucks the dngs of the goats, poisoning 

 them to such an extent that the animals themselves are blinded, 

 and their udders waste away. This fable we notice in order to 

 account for the strange name Goatsucker, by which it was formerly 

 so well known. The bird has, indeed, strangely enough, been known 

 all over Europe by an equivalent for this name from the earliest 

 times. The bird itself is perfectly inoffensive, singular in form and 

 habits, though rarely seen alive near enough for its peculiarities 

 of form and colour to be observed. Its note, however, is familiar 

 enough to persons who are in the habit of being out late at night 

 in such parts of the country as it frequents. The silence of the 

 evening or midnight walk in June is occasionally broken by a deep 

 churr-churr-err which seemingly proceeds from the lower bough of 

 a tree, a hedge, or paling. And a whirring of the wings comes often 

 from their being brought in contact as the birds twist in insect- 

 hunting.^ The churring is nearly monotonous but not quite so, 

 as it occasionally rises or falls about a quarter of a note, and appears 

 to increase and diminish in loudness. Nor does it seem to proceed 

 continuously from exactly the same spot, but to vary its position, 

 as if the performer were either a ventriloquist or were actually 

 shifting his ground. The bird perches with its feet resting length- 

 wise on a branch, its claws not being adapted for grasping, and 

 turns its head from side to side, thus throwing the sound as it 

 were in various directions, and producing the same effect as if it 

 proceeded from different places. I have repeatedly worked my 



1 Mr. Bell informs me that it is so like the croak of the Natter-Jack Toad, 

 that he has more than once doubted from which of the two the sound proceeded. 



