INSESSORES. 03 



formed for powerful flight ; the feet very small and feathered to 

 the toes, which are connected at the base by a membrane. The 

 claw of the middle toe, in most of the genera, is extended on 

 one side, the edge being cut into regularly formed teeth, like those 

 of a comb, and used, as is thought, for cleaning their plumage. 



The Night-jars are nocturnal or crepuscular in their habits, 

 chasing their insect food by night, or at dusk, when the beetles and 

 large moths are on the wing, for the capture of which the formation 

 of the mouth is admirably fitted. 



In their nocturnal movements, their feathered feet, their large 

 ears and eyes, and in other additional respects, an analogy is dis 

 coverable between these birds and the Owls, and one which is 

 recognized in the common names, Fern Owl, Churn Owl, &c., 

 applied to some of the species. Indeed, the Night-jars are evi 

 dently to be regarded as a connecting link between the Perchers 

 and Birds of Prey. 



The species of these birds are widely spread. Their colors 

 are usually various shades of black, brown, gray and white, 

 beautifully intermingled with minute waves, lines and spots. 



Instead of being noxious and mischievous, they are the most 

 harmless and useful of birds, destroying the scavenger beetles 

 and moths, those great enemies of vegetation. 



The term GOAT SUCKERS, also applied to these birds as far 

 back as the days of Aristotle, is derived from a silly notion that 

 they suck goats, an idea about as credible as the one some 

 times entertained that hedgehogs suck cows, or cats the breath 

 of children. The voices of the Night-jars, like those of the 

 Owls, are often harsh and strange ; and sometimes they show a 

 peculiar vibratory or quivering character. Some of these noc 

 turnal birds, (Podargus, Gr. pous, a foot; argos, inactive,) have 

 a beak nearly as strong as an Owl s; others of them, (Psalurus, 

 Gr. psalis, scissors; oura, tail,) have forked tails of excessive 

 length ; and one species, (C. diurnis, Lat. diurnal.) is &quot;seen in 

 cloudy days in troops of fifteen or twenty, skimming over the 

 surface of ponds precisely in the manner of swallows.&quot; 



The COMMON GOAT-SUCKER of Europe, C. Europaus, (see 

 fig. on Chart.) 



This is a beautiful Night-jar, in its migrations reaching Eng 

 land about the middle of May, and departing near the end of 

 September. Its length is about ten inches. It builds no nest, 

 but lays two mottled eggs on the ground. Frequently this bird 

 sits on a branch or a fence-rail, and with the head as low as the 

 feet, utters, with swollen, quivering throat, its singular jarring 



