270 



Croi&trg of Natural i^ 



, evening. The Chuck- Will's- Widow lays 



| its eggs, two in number, on the ground, in 



the woods ; they are of a dull olive colour, 



sprinkled with darker specks, and about as 



large as a pigeon's. 



This singular genus of birds, formed to 

 subsist on the superabundance of nocturnal 

 insects, are exactly and surprisingly fitted 

 for their peculiar mode of life. Their flight 

 is low, to accommodate itself to their prey ; 

 silent, that they may be the better concealed, 

 and sweep upon it unawares ; their sight, 

 most acute in the dusk, when such insects 

 are abroad ; their evolutions, something like 

 those of the bat, quick and sudden ; their 

 mouths capable of prodigious expansion, to 

 seize with more certainty, and furnished 

 with long branching hairs, or bristles, serving 

 as palisadoes to secure what comes between 

 I them. Reposing so much during the heats 

 of day, they are much infested with vermin, 

 particularly about the head, and are provided 

 with a comb on the inner edge of the middle 

 claw, with which they are often employed in 

 ridding themselves of these pests, at least 

 when in a state of captivity. Having no 

 weapons of defence except their wings, their 

 chief security is in the solitude of night, and 

 in their colour and close retreats by day ; 

 the former so much resembling that of dead 

 leaves, of various hues, as not to be readily 

 distinguished from them even when close at 

 hand. [See NIGUT-IIAWK .] 



GOBIOIDE^E. A family of Acanthop- 

 terygious fishes, including the Blenuies, 

 Gobies, &c. They may be recognised by the 

 slenderness and flexibility of their dorsal 

 rays. They have an uniformly wide intes- 

 tinal canal, and no pyloric cceca. 



GOBY. (Gobius.) A genus of Acanthop- 

 terygious fishes, of which there are several 

 species, of a small size, in general varying 

 from three to six inches in length ; but none 

 of them are much esteemed for food. They 

 are distinguished by their ventral and tho- 

 racic fins being united in their whole length, 

 or at their bases. The spines of the dorsal 



RED QOBT (OOJ 



fins are flexible ; the openings of their ears, 

 with four rays. Like the Blenny, they can 

 live a long time out of water. Several spe- 

 cies are found in the Mediterranean, Ame- 

 rican, and Indian seas : some also on our 

 own coasts. Three or four will suffice for 

 examples. 



The BLACK GOBY, or ROCK-FISH. (GoUus 

 niger.) This is an inhabitant of the Medi- 

 terranean and Northern seas, and also of the 

 rocky parts of our own coast : it grows to 

 the length of six inches ; the body is soft, 

 slippery, and slender : the head large, the 

 cheeks inflated, and the lips very thick ; the 

 mouth is wide, and furnished with numerous 



small teeth in each jaw, the lower of which 

 is the longest. The ventral fins coalesce, 

 and form a sort of funnel, by which these 

 fish are said to affix themselves immovably 

 to the rocks. The general colour of the fish 

 is a dusky black, and the tail is rounded at 

 the end. 



The LANCE-TAILED GOBY (Gdbius lanceo- 

 latus) is distinguished by and named from 

 the peculiar form of its tail, which is large 

 in proportion to the fish, and sharp-pointed 

 at the tip. The body is of a lengthened 

 shape, and nearly of equal diameter through- 

 out : the head is oblong, and truncated in 

 front ; the jaws of equal length, a,nd armed 

 with sharp teeth ; and the body is covered 

 with scales, those toward the tail being much 

 larger than those on the upper parts. This 

 is a West Indian species. 



The BLUE GOBY (Gobius cceruleus') is a 

 highly beautiful, though very small species : 

 colour fine blue, rather paler beneath : tail 

 red, with a black border. From the bril- 

 liancy of its colours it appears, when swim- 

 ming in a calm sea, during a bright sunshine, 

 like a small tube of sapphire, tipped with 

 carbuncle. It is found on the eastern coasts 

 of Africa ; and the Negroes use it as a bait 

 for other fish. 



The SPOTTED GOBY (Gobiiis minutus) is 

 about three inches long ; the head is large ; 

 the irides blue ; the mouth wide, with several 

 rows of small pointed teeth, curving in- 

 wards ; the dorsal fins distinct, pectoral and 

 ventral fins large ; tail a little rounded. 

 The general colour is a pale yellowish- white, 

 freckled with minute light brown specks, 

 and occasionally a row of larger spots along 

 the lateral line. It is frequently taken on 

 our sandy shores in shrimpers' nets ; it is 

 also plentiful in the Thames, where it is 

 called by the fishermen Polewig, or Polly- 

 bait. 



GODWIT. (Limosa.~) There are several 

 species of these Grallatorial birds. They 

 are a timid, shy, and solitary tribe ; charac- 

 terized by a straight beak, longer than that 

 of the snipes, sometimes slightly bent at the 

 extremity, and by long legs, naked far above 

 the knee. They live amidst the fens, salt 

 marshes, and deep muddy places near the 

 mouths of rivers ; seldom remaining above a 



day or two in the same place, and often re- 

 moving suddenly in a flock at night, when 

 they fly very high. When pursued, they 



run with great speed, and scream as they 

 rise. They subsist on worms and larvae, 

 and their flesh is very excellent. They are 

 migratory, and moult twice in the year. 



The COMMON GODWIT (Limosa jEgoce- 

 phala) is sixteen inches in length, and weighs 

 about twelve ounces. The bill is four inches 

 long, bent a little upwards, and black at the 

 point : the head, neck, back, scapulars, and 

 coverts are a dingy reddish pale brown, each 

 feather being marked down the middle with 

 a dark spot. The fore part of the breast is 

 streaked with black ; belly, vent, and tail 

 white, the latter barred with black : the 

 webs of the first six quill-feathers black, 



