304 APPENDIX BY THE 



The Wagtails, motacilla. These birds derive their 

 name from the incessant, rapid motion of their tails ; they 

 are resident birds in England, frequenting the banks of 

 streams and pools There are several species ; the pied, 

 the gray, and the yellow wagtails. They run with great 

 rapidity, and take wing with peculiar ease. Their con- 

 formation renders the movement of the tail necessary as 

 a counterpoise, which is the cause of its constant play. 



The Swift, cypsdus apus. This is the largest of the 

 swallow tribe in Europe, and probably the strongest 

 winged of all British birds. It lives in the air, building 

 on the highest towers, and spires of churches and other 

 edifices, or upon rocky pinnacles. The swifts are distin- 

 guished from the swallows by the shortness of their legs, 

 unfitted for walking, and by the formation of their toes. 

 Our American chimney swallow approaches very nearly 

 to the swift of England in many particulars, though 

 different in others. 



The Goat-sucker, caprimulgus Europeus. This is the 

 fern-owl, nightjar, or night-hawk, a bird, as an English 

 writer has observed, particularly ill-named, its last title 

 only being consistent with its character. When hawking 

 for bats it flies within a few feet of the ground, but when 

 in pursuit of moths it glides round and round the trunk 

 of some tree, the haunt of its prey, with great perseve- 

 rance. The term goat-sucker is derived from a strange 

 notion very prevalent in olden times that this bird was in 

 the habit of taking the milk of the goat for its own use. 

 Our American night-hawk differs in some particulars from 

 that of Europe. 



The Bustard, otis tarda. This is a large bird of the 

 cursor es or running tribe, four feet in length, and nine in 

 breadth, weighing as much as thirty pounds in some in- 

 stances. The plumage is reddish orange, spotted and 



