NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



the other goat-suckers, but the character of the palate seems to refer it to the latter. 

 It is a small group restricted to South America and the Antilles, in aspect and habits 

 very similar to the other Caprimolgide. A striking peculiarity is the tooth of the bill, 

 as depicted in the accompanying cut. 



The Caprimulginae form a nearly cosmopolitan group of nocturnal birds, which, 

 like the owls, play a great role in the superstitions of all human races, whether white 

 or black, red or yellow. " The harmless, unoffending goat-sucker," says Mr. Water- 

 ton, "from the time of Aristotle down to the present day, has been in disgrace with 

 man. Father has handed it down to son, and author to author, that this nocturnal 

 thief subsists by milking the flocks. Poor injured little bird of night, how sadly hast 

 thou suffered, and how foul a stain has inattention to facts put upon thy character! 

 Thou hast never robbed man of any part of his property, nor deprived the kid of a 

 drop of milk. 



" When the moon shines bright you may have a fair opportunity of examining the 

 goat-sucker. You will see it close by the cows, goats, and sheep, jumping up every 

 now and then under their bellies. Approach a little nearer. See how the nocturnal 

 flies are tormenting the herd, and with what dexterity he springs up and catches them 

 as fast as they alight on the bellies, legs, and udders of the animals. Were you to 

 dissect him and inspect his stomach, you would find no milk there. It is full of the 

 flies which have been annoying the herd." 



The same author, in speaking of the species inhabiting Denierara, and referring to 

 the largest, continues as follows : " Its cry is so remarkable that, having once heard 

 it, you will never forget it. When night reigns over these innumerable wilds, whilst 

 laying in your hammock, you will hear the goat-sucker lamenting like one in distress. 

 A stranger would never conceive it to be the cry of a bird ; he would say it was the 

 departing voice of a midnight murdered victim, or the last wailing of Niobe for her 

 poor children before she was turned into stone. Suppose yourself in hopeless sorro\v, 

 begin with a high, loud note, and pronounce ' Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ! ' each note 

 lower and lower, till the last is scarcely heard, pausing a moment or two betwixt 

 every note, and you will have some idea of the moaning of the largest goat-sucker in 

 Demerara. Four other species of the goat-sucker articulate some words so distinctly 

 that they have received their names from the sentences they utter, and absolutely 

 bewilder the stranger on his arrival in these parts. The most common one sits down 

 close by your door, and flies and alights three or four yards before you as you walk 

 along the road, crying, 'Who are you, who-who-who-are-you.' Another bids you 

 'Work away, work-work-work-away.' A third cries mournfully, ' Willy-come-go, 

 willy-willy-willy-come-go.' And high up in the country, a fourth tells you to 'Whip- 

 poor-will, whip-whip-whip-poor-will.' You will never persuade the negro to destroy 

 these birds, or get the Indian to let fly his arrows at them. They are birds of omen 

 and reverential dread. If the largest goat-sucker chance to cry near the white man's 

 door, sorrow and grief will soon be inside, and they expect to see the master waste 

 away with a slow consuming sickness. If it be heard close to the negro's or Indian's 

 hut, from that night misfortune sits brooding over it, and they await the event in 

 terrible suspense." 



The goat-suckers are of a very uniform appearance, their coloration being a 

 blended mixture of brown, gray, black, buff, and white, and to others than the 

 specialist the characters by which they are separated into genera and species seem 

 trifling and unimportant. Few but the ornithologists will therefore care to hear all 



