Papular 23tctt0nar nf 



267 



Thibet are of a bright ochre colour ; in 

 lower grounds, the colour becomes of a yel- 



CASHMERE OOAT. 



lowish-white, and still farther downwards 

 entirely white. The highest mountains of 

 the Himalaya inhabitable by man contain 

 also a species of black Goats, the wool of 

 which as a material for shawls in India ob- 

 tains the highest price. The Goats of Thibet 

 and Cashmere have the fine curled wool 

 close to the skin, just as the under hair of 

 our common Goat lies below the coarse 

 upper hair. The flesh of the Cashmere Goat 

 tastes as well as that of the common one ; 

 and its milk is as rich ; but these animals 

 owe their great celebrity to the extraordi- 

 nary beauty and costliness of the shawls 

 for which the Asiatics have been so long 

 famous. 



The SYRIAN GOAT is remarkable for its 

 large pendulous ears, which are usually 

 from one to two feet in length, and some- 

 times so troublesome to the animal, that the 

 owners are obliged to trim them, to enable 

 it to feed more at ease. The horns are 

 black, bending a little forwards ; and are 

 only about two inches long. The colour of 

 its hair is like that of a fox ; and there are 

 two fleshy excrescences under its throat. 

 This variety appears to have been known to 

 Aristotle. 



There are several other varieties of the 

 Goat which it is needless to enumerate. But 

 there is one species in North America (the 

 ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT), which we should 

 notice, inasmuch as it has given rise to much 

 diiFerence of opinion as to its proper place 

 in a system of arrangement. It has been 

 designated Ovis montana. The Rocky 

 Mountain Goat nearly equals in size a com- 

 mon sheep, and has a shaggy appearance, 

 in consequence of the protrusion of the 

 long hair beyond the wool, which is white 

 and soft. Its horns are about five inches 

 long, conical, somewhat curved backwards, 

 and projecting but slightly beyond the 

 wool of the head. They are in great num- 

 bers about the head waters of the Colum- 

 bia, and furnish the principal part of the 

 food of the natives of that district. They 

 appear to be more numerous on the western 

 than on tne eastern side of the mountains, 

 and are rarely seen in the plains. The skin 

 is very thick and spongy, and is principally 

 used in making moccasons. Next to the 

 fleece of the Cashmere Goat this is believed 



to be the finest ; and it is prized accord- 

 ingly. 



GOAT-MOTH. 



PEEDA.] 



[See Cossus LIGNI- 



GOATSUCKER, or NIG HT-JAR. (Ca- 

 primufffiis Europeans.) There are many spe- 

 cies of Goatsuckers, but this is the only one 

 of the genus that inhabits Europe perma- 

 nently, the Caprimulgus rujicollis being con- 

 fined to South Western Europe, and ap- 

 pearing there only in the summer. With 

 us it is only a summer visitant, appearing 

 about the middle of May, and retiring in 

 September or October. Before, however, we 

 give a description of the bird, it may be as 

 well to observe that the name Goatsucker, 

 although very generally used, and retained 

 in most ornithological works, has no foun- 

 dation but in the ignorance and superstition 

 of the ancients, who believed it sucked the 

 teats of goats ; on which account Bewick 

 suggests the propriety of dropping the 



; 



name, and adopting that of NIGHT-JAY, 

 "which, though not universally known, 

 bears some analogy to the nature and qua- 

 lities of the bird, both in respect to the time 

 of its appearance, which is always the dusk 

 of the evening, as well as to the jarring noise 

 it utters whilst at rest perched on a tree, and 

 by which it is peculiarly distinguished." 

 Like the Owl, it is seldom seen in the day- 

 time, unless disturbed, or on dark and gloomy 

 days, when its eyes are not dazzled by the 

 bright rays of the sun. As moths, gnats, 

 beetles, and other night insects are its food, 

 it is peculiar ly_ formed to enable it to catch 

 them on the wing. For this purpose nature 

 has bestowed on it a mouth of great compa- 

 rative size, which as the Goatsucker flies, it 

 can quickly open, while the insects are addi- 

 tionally secured by the bill being surrounded 

 on the inner side with a glutinous substance 

 that prevents their escape. This manner of 

 flying with its mouth open is the cause of 

 that whirring noise which this bird makes 

 while chasing its prey. It arises from the 

 resistance made to the mouth by the air 

 and is more or less loud according to the 

 velocity with which the bird moves. When 



