THE NIGHTJAR. 289 



the animals themselves are blinded, and their udders waste 

 away. This fable it is necessary to notice in order to 

 account for the strange name Goatsucker, by which it is 

 still popularly known better than by any other. 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 



THE NIGHTJAR. 



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 whirring noise, 

 which seemingly proceeds from the lower bough of a 

 tree, a hedge, or paling. Having in it nothing of a chirp, 

 warble, or whistle, it is unlike the note of a bird, or indeed 

 any natural sound,, but most resembles the humming of a 



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