100 



THE LONG-TAILED GOAT-SUCKER. 



retired spots, and is not unfrequently found tenanting the same habitation together with a 

 large company of bats. 



The nest is as open and undefended as is the case with most of the Goat-suckers, and the 

 eggs and young would probably be exposed to considerable danger, were it not for the won- 

 derful care and ingenuity displayed by the parents when their offspring are in danger. The 

 following account of the behavior of the bird when it fears that its nesting-place has been 

 discovered, is given by Audubon : 



"When the Chuck- Will's- Widow, either male or female, for each sits alternately, has 

 discovered that its eggs have been touched, it ruffles its feathers, and appears extremely 

 dejected for a minute or two, after which it emits a low murmuring cry, scarcely audible 



CAROLINA GOAT-SUCKER. Caprimt.tgu8 carMnensu. 



to me as I have lain concealed at a distance of eighteen or twenty yards. At this time I have 

 seen the other parent reach the spot, flying so low over the ground that I thought its little feet 

 must have touched it as it skimmed along. After a few low notes and some gesticulations, I 

 have witnessed each take an egg into its large mouth, and both fly off together, skimming 

 closely over the ground, until they disappeared among the branches and trees. But to what 

 distance they remove their eggs I have never been able to ascertain, nor have I ever had an 

 opportunity of witnessing the removal of the young." 



M. Audubon proceeds to say that the birds do not carry away the eggs unless they have 

 been touched, and that if the parent bird be merely frightened from her nest by the sudden 

 shout of a stranger, she will return to her eggs as soon as the intruder has left the spot. 



THE LONG-TAILED GOAT-SUCKER is one of the most conspicuous of this group of birds ; 

 the long and slightly curved feathers of its tail giving it some resemblance in outline to the 

 European Cuckoo. The body of this species is by no means large, but the bird appears to be 

 considerably above its real dimensions on account of the great length of its tail. 



In the color of its plumage it is rather a handsomer bird than the generality of Goat- 

 Buckers, owing to the quantity of white which is laid in bold markings on several parts of its 



