THE GOAT-SUCKER. 39 



there was a strong twilight, and we have listened in 

 vain for the Sky-lark's note, beyond the hour above 

 mentioned; though in the northern part of Scotland, 

 and Shetland Islands, still further north \vard, where 

 in Summer it is scarcely ever dark, they are heard 

 throughout the night singing; and, again, to use old 

 Izaak Walton's words, " ascending higher into the 

 air, and then for a time ending their heavenly em- 

 ployment, becoming mute and sad to think they must 

 descend to the dull earth, which they would not 

 touch, but from necessity/' 



TABLE XII. (See vol. i. p. 15.) 

 Order 2. PASSERINE. Tribe 6. PLANIROSTRES. 



Tins tribe contains but three genera, two of which, 

 namely, the Swift and the Swallow, are, by common 

 observers, considered as the same, though there is a 

 remarkable difference in the position of their claws; 

 the third is that of the Goat-suckers, whose enor- 

 mously wide, gaping mouths, and short, flat, softish 

 beaks, at once distinguish them from other species. 



Skull of a G cat- sucker. 



