126 



THE VIBGINIAN GOAT-SUCKER. 



cries of the common swift. It also has a curious habit of hovering over its mate as she 

 sits on her eggs, darting down upon her from a considerable elevation, and then suddenly 

 sweeping up again with a loud booming sound, occasioned either by the wings or by the 

 vocal organs. This strange manoeuvre is constantly repeated, and appears to be performed 

 for the purpose of showing a delicate attention to the sitting bird, and amusing her 

 during her long and tedious task. 



The eggs of this bird are placed on the bare ground, and when a stranger happens to 

 approach the spot where they are lying, the parent bird immediately flings herself in the 

 way of the intruder, and by tumbling about in front of him, as if she had broken a wing 

 or otherwise disabled herself, endeavours to induce him to leave the sacred spot and give 

 chase. If she succeeds in decoying him from the locality, she darts into cover, and takes 

 the earliest opportunity of returning quietly to her nest. Many birds pursue this curious 

 contrivance, the common peewit or lapwing being a very familiar instance among 

 ourselves. 



The eggs of this species are generally two in number, greyish-white in colour, covered 

 with a number of streaks and dashes of brown. The young are odd little creatures, 



VIKOIN1AN GOAT-SUCKER. Chordeiles Virginianui. 



clothed with a quantity of fine brownish-grey down, and of a very indeterminate shape. 

 The tail of this bird is forked, and the long wings overpass the tail when they are 

 closed. The bill is rather small. The colour of the Night-hawk is rather different from 

 that of the ordinary caprimulgidse, being notable for a greenish gloss upon the dark red- 

 brown of the general plumage. A number of yellowish spots occur upon the head, neck, 

 and wing-coverts, there is a well-defined white band across the middle primaries, together 

 with a white patch on the throat, and an irregular stripe above the eyes. The total length 

 of this bird is between nine and ten inches. 



The WniP-POOE-WiLL also belongs to this group of birds, and is familiarly known by 

 the peculiar melancholy cry, which very much resembles the other odd names by which 

 it is called. 



THE birds which belong to the genus Podargus have less of the peculiar Goat-sucker 

 aspect than any of their relatives, owing to the comparative paucity and scantiness of the 

 vibrissie, the naked legs, the shortness of the tail, and the comparatively small gape of the 

 mouth. The wings of these birds are extremely long, and the powers of flight are very 

 considerable. 



