THE GOAT-SUCKER. 253 



The length is rather more than ten inches, the stretch of the 

 wings about twenty-one, and the weight nearly three ounces, 

 so that it is not so powerfully winged as the swift, or indeed 

 as any of the swallows, in proportion to its weight ; and it is 

 less so for its apparent size, as the feathers are much more 

 loose and bulky in proportion. 



It is of course improper to call a bird beaked and footed 

 like the goat-sucker an owl, because neither the beak nor the 

 claws are capable of catching either birds or mice ; but still, 

 in its habits, and even in the general tints and markings of 

 its plumage, it bears something of the same relation to the 

 swallows, that the owls bear to the diurnal birds of prey. Its 

 plumage is loose and mottled, while theirs is stiff and firm, 

 and more uniform in the colours. As is the case with the 

 owls too, its eyes are very large and prominent, though, as 

 the bird catches its prey on the wing, the eyes have not the 

 concha of produced feathers that distinguish the owls. 



There is a remarkable peculiarity in the foot of the goat- 

 sucker : the hinder toe is capable of being reversed, so as to 

 be turned forward along with the other three ; and that 

 appears to accommodate one particular habit of the bird. 

 The goat-sucker perches lengthways, but generally with its 

 head inwards to the tree, instead of outwards, like the 

 cuckoo ; yet it has to glide from its perch in nearly the 

 same manner ; only, as it must, from the slope of that perch 

 being the other way, spring more from the toes than the 

 cuckoo, and would find the hinder toe rather an obstacle, 

 that is brought forward in aid of the others, just as one of 

 the two hind toes of the cuckoo are. Like the wood-owl, to 

 which (though their prey is very different) the goat-sucker 

 bears some resemblance, it makes a noise when flying in 

 quest of its prey. That noise is a compound of hissing and 

 booming, much louder, but still similar to the sound made by 

 the larger beetles when on the wing in the twilight. This 



