PASSERINE. 289 
it becomes torpid during the winter, and even passes that season 
under water in the bottom of marshes, appears to be certain. 
Among the Swallows foreign to Europe, we should remark, 
Hir. esculenta, L. A very small species from the Archipelago 
of India, with a forked tail; brown above; beneath, and the tip 
of the tail, whitish; celebrated for its nest, composed of a 
‘whitish gelatine, arranged in layers, and constructed with a 
particular species of fucus which it previously grinds and ma- 
cerates. The nutritious qualities attributed to these nests in 
China, have rendered them an important article in the com- 
merce of that country.(1) 
There are some Swallows in which the tail is nearly square,(2) 
and others where it is short, square, and the quills terminating in a 
point.(3) 
‘Caprimuteus, Lin.(4) 
The Goatsuckers have the same light, soft plumage, shaded with 
grey and brown, that characterizes the nocturnal birds. Their eyes 
are large; the commissure of the beak extending still higher up than 
that of the Swallow, and furnished with stiff mustachios, is capable 
of engulphing the largest insects, which are retained there by a 
glutinous saliva; the nostrils, formed like small tubes, are at its 
‘base. Their wings are long; their feet, short, with feathered tarsi, 
(1) Here come: Hir. americana, Wils., V, xxxviii, 1, 2, or rufa, Vieill., Am. 
3;—another Hir. rufa, Enl. 724, 1;—Hir. fulva, Vieill. Am. 32 ;—Hir. fasciata, 
Enl. 724, 2;—Hir. violacea, Enl. 722, or H. purpurea, Wils., V, xxxix, 1, 2;— 
Hir. chalybexa, Enl. 454, 2;—Hir. senegalensis, Enl. 310 ;—Hir. capensis, Enl. 723, 
2;—Hir. indica, Lath. Syn. Il, pl. lvi;—Hir. panayana, Sonner. Voy. I, pl. 
Ixxxvi ;—AHir. subis, Edw., 120 ;—Hir. ambrosiaca, Briss., I, pl. Ixv, fig. 4 ;-—Hir. 
tapera, Ib., fig. 3;—Hir. nigra, Id. pl. Ixvi, fig. 3 :—Hir. daurica ;—Hirondelle a 
front roux, \Vaill. Afr.245, 2;—Hir. de marais, Id. Ib. 246, 2 ;—Hir. huppée, 1d. Ib. 
247 ;—Cyps. senex, T. 397 ;—Hir. fucata, Tem., Col., 161, 1 ;—Hir. jugularis, Pr. 
Max., Col., 209, 2;—Hir. javanica, Lath. Col. 83, 2 ;—Hir. melanolenca, Pr. Max., 
Col. 209, 2;—Hir. minuta, Pr. Max., Col. Ib., 1 ;—Hir. bicolor, Vieill. Am. 31, or 
H. viridis, Wils., V, xxxviii, 3. 
(2) Hir. dominicencis, Enl. 545, 1 ;—Hir. torquata, Enl. 723, 1 ;—Hir. leucoptera, 
Enl. 546, 1 ;—Hir. francica, Enl. 544, 2 ;—Hir. borbonica ;—H. americana ;—Hir. 
fauve, Vaill. Af. 246, 1. 
(3) Hir. acuta, Enl. 544, 1;—Cypselus giganteus, Col. 364 ;—Hir. albicollis, 
Vieill., Galer. 120, or Cyps. collaris, Pr. Max., Col. 195. 
(4) Caprimulgus, Goatsucker, Egothelas, names which derive their origin from 
the whimsical idea entertained by the vulgar, of their sucking Goats and even 
Cows. 
N.B. M. Vigors and Horsfield make a genus (Zcorurtes,) of the Caprimulgus 
Nove-Hollandiz, Philip., Bot. B., 270. 
Vor. L—2M 
