312 BRITISH BIRDS. 



considerably larger than the rest, and the claw is 

 serrated on one side. 



To avoid, as much as possible, perpetuating 

 error, we have dropped the name Goat-sucker, 

 which has no foundation but in ignorance and 

 superstition, and have adopted one, which, though 

 not universally kno\vn, bears some analogy to the 

 nature and qualities of the bird, both in respect 

 to the time of its appearance, \vhich is always the 

 dusk of the evening, as well as to the jarring noise 

 which it utters w r hilst at rest perched on a tree, and 

 by which it is peculiarly distinguished. 



The Night-jar is found in every part of the old 

 continent, from Siberia to Greece, Africa, and 

 India; it arrives in this country about the end of 

 May, being one of our latest birds of passage, 

 and departs in the end of August or the beginning 

 of September ; it is no\vhere numerous, and never 

 appears in flocks. Like the Owl, it is seldom seen 

 in the day-time, unless disturbed, or in dark and 

 gloomy weather, w r hen its eyes are not dazzled by 

 the bright rays of the sun. It feeds on insects, 

 which it catches on the wing ; it is a great destroyer 

 of the cock-chafer or dor-beetle, from which cir- 

 cumstance, in some places, it is called the Dor- 

 hawk. Six of these insects were found in the 

 stomach of our specimen, besides four or five 

 large-bodied moths. White supposes that the feet 

 are useful in taking its prey, as he observed it 

 frequently, while on the wing, put forth a leg, with 

 which it seemed to convey something to its mouth. 

 These birds frequent moors and wild heathy tracts 

 abounding with ferns; they make no nest, but the 

 female deposits her eggs on the ground; she lays 



