XXVIII 
THE GOATSUCKER FAMILY 
(Caprimulgide) 3 
THESE are queer-looking birds, having their 
front toes tied together by a kind of webbing, 
and almost no hind toe at all. The mouth, too, 
is almost as odd as the toes. It has a short beak, 
but 1s very wide, and it opens from ear to ear 
hke the swift’s. The plumage is so soft that the 
birds can fly without making the least sound. 
The two most common goatsuckers are the 
whip-poor-will and the nighthawk. They are 
both as large as a robin, and stouter. They are 
dressed in dull brown, and black and white, mot- 
tled all over. If you just glanced at the two, 
you might think them alike. But they are not 
marked alike, and all their ways are so different 
that there is no trouble in telling them apart. 
The Wuip-poor-witt has broad white tail- 
marks, with stripes on the back, and a narrow 
1 See Appendix, 21. 
