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TUINIDAD GOAT-SUCKEE. —.S(mrornis Varipensis. 



GOAT-SUCKEES. 



With the owls closes the history of those bii'ds which are called predaceous, although to 

 a considerable extent nearly all birds are somewhat predaceous, even if they prey upon 

 smaller victims than do the vultures, eagles, falcons, or owls. Next to the Accipitres come 

 the Passeres, distinguished by their cere-less and pointed beak, their legs feathered as far 

 the heel, their tarsus covered in front with shield-like scales, and their slightly curved and 

 sharply pointed claws. This order is a very large one, and embraces a vast variety of 

 birds. 



First among the Passerine birds are placed the Fissirostres or cleft-beaked birds, so 

 called from the enormous gape of the mouth, a structure which is intended to aid them in 

 the capture of the agile prey on which they feed. Some of the birds, such as the Goat- 

 suckers, swallows, bee-eaters, and others, prey upon insects, which they take upon the 

 wing ; while some, such as the kingfishers, feed upon fish, which they snatch from the 

 water and bear to their homes in spite of their hard, slippery, scale-covered armour, or 

 the watery element in which they dwell. 



The Goat-suckers, as they are familiarly termed, from a stupid notion that was 

 formerly in great vogue among farmers, and is not even yet quite extinct, that these birds 

 were in the habit of sucking the wild goats, cows, and sheep, are placed first among the 

 Fissirostres on account of the wonderfully perfect manner in which their structure is 

 adapted to the chasing and securing of the swift-winged insects on which they feed. The 

 colour of all these birds is sombre; black, brown, and grey being the prevailing tints. The 

 gape of the mouth is so large that when the bird opens its beak to its fullest extent, it 

 seems to have been severely wounded across the mouth, and the plumage is lax and soft 

 like that of the owl. 



