APPENDIX. 201 



for this bird ; bqt as it is really neither a 

 '^hawk'iior an owl, though much mingled in 

 ' its ' manners of both, I keep the usual one, 

 Night-jar, euphonious for Night-Churr, from 

 its continuous note like the sound of a spin- 

 ning wheel. The idea of its sucking goats, 

 or any other milky creature, has long been 

 set at rest ; and science, intolerant of legends 

 in' which there is any use or beauty, cannot 

 be allowed to ratify in its dog or pig-Latin 

 those which are eternally vulgar and profit- 

 less. I had first thought of calling it Hirundo 

 Nocturna ; but this would be too broad 

 massing ; for although the creature is more 

 swallow than owl, living wholly on insects, 

 it must be properly held as a distinct species 

 from both. Owls cannot gape like con- 

 strictors ; nor have swallows whiskers or 

 beards, or combs to keep both in order with, 

 on their middle toes. This bird's cat-like 

 bristles at the base of the beak connect it 

 with the bearded Toucans, and so also the 

 toothed mandibles of the American cave- 

 dwelling variety. I shall not want the word 

 Noctua for the owls themselves, and it is a 

 pretty and simple one for this tribe, enabling 



