Picarice 



101 



as holes and wall-tops inside church towers and other 

 buildings. The two eggs have the same long outline 

 and roughish white shell as those of Humming-birds. 

 The nest is of a little straw stuck together with saliva. 

 This species is locally common in Britain and in the 

 western Palsearctic region, where several allied species 

 complicate the question of range. 



Goatsucker 



Family CAPRIMULGID..^, or Goatsuckers 



The Nightjar or Goatsucker (Caprimulgus europceus) 

 is an uncanny looking bird with uncanny ways. The 

 great wide gape with bristles along the upper mandible 

 gives it a curious appearance, though the soft grey, 

 buff, and brown plumage is distinctly pleasing to the 

 eye, while the jarring sounds uttered when it is station- 

 ary and the sudden clap of the wings in flight create 



