COEACIIFORMES. 411 



All the owls may be said to be decidedly useful birds, and 

 the practice, still largely in vogue, of shooting them down 

 should be prohibited by all landowners and farmers. 



(ii) Maorochiees. 

 Swifts (Cypselid.e). 



The Swifts have all four toes directed forwards, and provided 

 with long and strong claws. The bill is short and wide, the 

 gape extending very far back, beyond the eyes. The nostrils 

 are longitudinal, the borders being edged with small feathers. 

 The wings are very long and pointed, and the tail forked in 

 the genus Cypselus. Swifts were formerly classed with the 

 Swallows, but are now shown to be related more closely to 

 the Nightjars, still more closely to the Humming-Birds. 



Cypselus apus, the Common Swift, is an abundant summer 

 visitor, appearing annually about the end of April, and leaving 

 about the end of August. The colour is blackish-brown, more 

 or less shiny, with a pale-grey or white area under the throat. 

 They make their scanty nests in holes in thatch, in church 

 towers, crevices in cliffs and quarries, &c., in which they deposit 

 two white eggs in June. The Swifts are very useful birds, as 

 they devour numbers of insects, especially moths. 



NlGHTJAlW (CaPRIMULGID-E). 



The only representative in England is the Goatsucker or 

 Fern-Owl (C'aprwiulf/us europmiis), a migrant which arrives in 

 England about the middle of May. They have an extremely 

 wide gape, the edges of the mouth being furnished with a row 

 of bristles. Insects, such as cockchafers and moths, form the 

 greater part of their food, which they catch whilst flying about 

 at dusk and during the night. The nightjar lays its eggs upon 

 the ground in open places amongst fern and gorse and in wood 

 clearings. 



