290 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



Family CAPRIMULGID^E. 



NIGHTJAR, Caprimidgus europ&us. This very odd- 

 looking bird, the only one of the Caprimulgidse that 

 can with any propriety he considered British, is 

 tolerably numerous in this county, but rather local 

 in its distribution, as it chiefly delights in rough and 

 stony places ; and in such places I have generally 

 found it, as amongst the rough stones, fern and 

 heather of the Quantock Hills, where it is much 

 more numerous than it is in the Vale. 



The name which I have chosen for this bird is 

 perhaps the one now most commonly used, but it 

 rejoices in more names than any bird in the British 

 list some of them merely local, and some being 

 much more general : besides the usual name " Night- 

 jar," it is called "Goatsucker," "Fern Owl," "Dor 

 Hawk," " Churn Owl," " Goat Owl," " Wheelbird," 

 "Night Hawk" and "Night Crow," the latter of 

 which denominations is perhaps the more common 

 here. The name " Goatsucker," as well as the Latin 

 names applied both to this bird and generally to the 

 family, " Caprimulgus" and "Caprimulgidse," must 

 have arisen from a popular error, which, as Bewick" 

 says, has no foundation but in ignorance and super- 

 stition. 



The Nightjar is a short summer visitor to England, 

 not arriving till the middle of May, and departing in 

 September: I have shot one as late as the 18th of 



