150 



FAMILY CAPRIMULGID^J. GOATSUCKERS. 



General Description. The Goatsuckers have flattened heads, very small bills, and 

 enormous mouths, with gape extending to behind the eye (Figure 38, p. 24). The feet 

 are small and very weak and the middle claw pectinated or furnished with comb-like 

 serrations as in the Herons (Figure 19, p. 21). The plumage is very soft in texture and 

 coloured in wood-browns, neutral buffs, and grey. 



Distinctions. The above characters should be sufficient to distinguish this family 

 as they are not similar to those of any other Canadian birds. 



The Goatsuckers were given their name from an old but mistaken 

 belief that they sucked the milk from the goats in the pastures over which 

 they were seen to wheel and circle, and their immense mouths and pink 

 throats gave support to the popular impression. As a fact the birds that 

 frequented the pastures were hawking for flying insects that had been 

 attracted by the animals. The birds of this family are nocturnal or cre- 

 puscular. They feed entirely upon insects caught on the wing and seldom 

 come to ground except to nest or for repose. Their feet are too small 

 and weak to clasp a branch securely and in perching they normally sit 

 on large branches, lengthwise instead of as do most birds crosswise. 



Genus Antrostomus. Whip-poor-wills. 



416. Chuck-will's Widow. FR. L'ENGOTTLEVENT DE LA CAROLINE. Antrostomus 

 carolinensis. L, 12. A large Whip-poor-will. See next species. 



Distinctions. Size; it is a considerably larger bird than the Whip-poor-will; the 

 long bristles about the mouth with hair-like branches at their base instead of being clean 

 and bare throughout their length. 



Distribution. The southern United States. Of accidental occurrence within our 

 borders. 



The basis for the inclusion of this bird here is the taking of a specimen 

 at Pelee point on lake Erie and another at Pictou, Nova Scotia. It is 

 rare and is similar to the Whip-poor-will in appearance, habits, and notes. 



417. Whip-poor-will. FR. L'ENGOULEVENT CRIARD. LE BOIS POTTRRI. Antrostomus 

 vociferus. L, 9-75. Coloured in soft indefinite patterns of wood-browns and greys with 

 suggestions of rufous and ochre. There is little broad pattern in the colouring, but much 

 fine detail. On the underparts there is only a faint suggestion of barring, and the coloration 

 of the whole bird is like that of a great brown moth. 



Distinctions. To be mistaken only for the Nighthawk or the very rare Chuck-will's 

 Widow. It is easily distinguished from the Nighthawk by the following points: the 

 throat is dark instead of white; there is a narrow white collar across the base of the throat; 

 the last hau" of the tail feathers, except the middle pair, is white in the male and tipped 

 with buffy white in the female. The spread wing shows no white spot. 



Nesting. Eggs are laid directly upon the ground or on dead leaves. 



Distribution. Common throughout most of the settled parts of eastern Canada, 

 scarcer in the extreme east, and more common in undisturbed than in highly cultivated 

 sections. 



SUBSPECIES. Two subspecies of Whip-poor-will are recognized in North America, 

 of which the Eastern Whip-poor-will, the type form, is the only one occurring in Canada. 



There is no other sound in the Canadian woods so poetically mournful 

 as the reiterated call of the Whip-poor-will. The translation of bird 

 notes into words usually requires a stretch of the imagination, but this 

 bird says "Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will" with unusual distinctness. 

 For a calling station it selects a perch on a fallen tree trunk, a bare branch, 

 the roof of a building, or even a tent-pole. It returns to its various stations 

 regularly on successive nights and seems to visit each in turn. Between 



