LONG-TAILED GOAT-SUCKER. Scotornis .Climacurus. 



two central quill feathers of the tail are greatly elongated, so as to give the tail a deeply 

 forked appearance. As the bird flies it has a curious habit of closing and opening these 

 feathers alternately, an action which bears a potent resemblance to the shutting and 

 opening of a pair of scissors, and has given rise to the name by which it is popularly 

 known. The plumage of this species is in colour like that of other Goat-suckers, with the 

 exception of a rather wide band of sooty-red which extends partly round the neck. The 

 tail of the female is comparatively small, and hardly exceeds the ordinary length. It is a 

 native of tropical America. 



The LONG-TAILED GOAT-SUCKEE is one of the most conspicuous of this group of birds ; 

 the long and slightly curved feathers of its tail giving it some resemblance in outline to 

 the European Cuckoo. The body of this species is by no means large, but the bird 

 appears to be considerably above its real dimensions on account of the great length of its 

 tail. 



In the colour of its plumage it is rather a handsomer bird than the generality of 

 Goat-suckers, owing to the quantity of white which is laid in bold markings on several 

 parts of its feathers. The chin is white, as is also a streak that passes from the corner of 

 the mouth. A broad band of white passes across the extremities of the lesser wing 

 coverts, and there is a smaller band of cream colour upon the tips of the greater coverts. 

 Another beautifully white band is drawn across the middle of the first six primary 

 feathers, and the remaining primaries have a spot of white on their tips. The rest of the 

 plumage is variegated with black .and brown, warmed here and there with a more ruddy 

 hue. The tail is also white in several parts, and has a number of very narrow dark bars 

 across the middle pair of feathers. The Long-tailed Goat-sucker is an inhabitant of 

 Western Africa. 



THE LONG-WINGED GOAT-SUCKEE is a scarcely less wonderful bird than the Lyre 

 Goat-sucker which has already been mentioned, the extraordinary development of feather 

 being in. the present case transferred from the tail to the wing. 



The colour of the Long- winged Goat-sucker is generally of the usual tints of chestnut 

 brown, but is diversified by a broad greyish-white irregular band, which passes across 



