COMMON NIGHTJAR. 309 



CAPRIMULGUS EUROP^EUS. 

 COMMON NIGHTJAR. 



(Plate 17.) 



Caprimulsus caprimulgus, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 470, pi. 44 (1760). 



Oaprimulgus europseus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 346 (1766); et auctorum pluri- 



morum — Omelin, Soopoli, Bonaparte, Temminch, Naumann, Newton, Dreiser, 



&c. 

 Hirundo caprimulgus (Briss.), Tunst. Orn. Brit. p. 2 (1771). 

 Caprimulgus punctatus, Wolf, Taschenb. i. p. 284 (1810). 

 Caprimulgus vulgaris, Vieill. Faun, Franq. i. p. 140(1828). 

 Oaprimulgus maculatus, Brehm, Voff. Deutschl. p. 131 (1831). 

 Nyctichelidon europseus (Linn.), Eennie, Mont. Orn. Diet. p. 335 (1831), 



The Common Nightjar or Goatsucker is a summer migrant to the 

 British Islands^ and is found more or less commonly in almost every county, 

 but is more numerous in the south of England than in the north. It is, 

 nevertheless, tolerably common on many of the inner islands on the vrest 

 coast of Scotland, and is an accidental visitor to the Orkneys and Shetland ; 

 but on the Outer Hebrides it has only been known to occur once, in North 

 Uist. In Ireland it is more local than in England, but is found in suitable 

 districts throughout the country. In the Channel Islands it is best 

 known on autumn migration, but a few are said to breed there. 



The Common Nightjar breeds throughout Europe and South-west 

 Siberia. In Scandinavia and West Russia it is found as far north as lat. 

 63° * ; but in the Ural Mountains and the valley of the Yenesay it has not 

 been recorded further north than lat. 59°, nor does it appear to occur 

 further east than Irkutsk. It also breeds in Turkestan, the extreme north- 

 west of India, Afghanistan, the Persian highlands, Palestine, and Asia 

 Minor. It passes through Scind, Arabia, and North-east Africa on migra- 

 tion. It vrinters in North-west Africa, where a few apparently remain to 

 breed ; and in South Africa, where it has been recorded from the Cape 

 Colony, the Transvaal, and Natal. Examples from Central Asia appear to 

 be slightly paler in colour than those from Europe, and have been distin- 

 guished as C. europ<Bus, var. unwini. The Common Goatsucker has many 



* Dresser's statement that the Common Nightjar " is not imcommon, and breeds near 

 Archangel," which Newton slightly expands by saying that it reaches Archangel, appears 

 to be solely based upon the existence of some eggs of this species in the museum at that 

 town, most probably picked up on the roadside by some traveller from St. Petersburg. 

 This evidence cannot be considered satisfactory, iaasmuch as this bird is not recorded 

 from Archangel by Lilljeborg, Alston and_Harvie-Brown, Goebel, Meves, or Hencke, the 

 latter of whom devoted several years to the ornithology of this district. 



