268 THE GOAT-SUCKER. 
catch the cockchafers, as they fly about during the night in search of their 
food, and does not leave us until it has done its best to eat every chafer that 
comes across its path. 
The Nightjar also feeds on moths of various kinds, and catches them by 
sweeping quickly and silently among the branches of the trees near which 
the moth tribes most love to congregate. While engaged in their sport, they 
will occasionally settle on a bank, a wall, a post, or other convenient perch, 
crouch downward until they bring their head almost on a level with their 
feet, and utter the peculiar churning note which has earned for them the 
name of Churn-Owls, Jar-Owls, and Spinners. Their cry has been rather 
well compared to that sound which is produced by the larger beetles of the 
night, but of course much louder, and with the addition of the characteristic 
“ Chur-r-r !—chur-r-r!” Sometimes, although but seldom, the Nightjar 
utters its cry while on the wing. 
When it settles, it always seats 
itself along a branch, and almost 
invariably with its head pointing 
towards the trunk of the tree. 
Thereis also astrange squeak- 
ing sound which is emitted by 
the Nightjar while playing round 
the trees at night, and which is 
supposed to be a cry of play- 
fulness or a call to its mate. 
Unlike the Falconide, the 
Goat-sucker catches its prey, not 
with its claws, but with its mouth, 
and is aided in retaining them 
in that very wide receptacle, by 
K the glutinous secretion with 
which it is lined, and the “ vi- 
brisse” or hair-like feathers 
which surround its margin. On 
an examination of the foot of 
this bird, the claw of the middle 
P toe is seen to be serrated like 
EUROPEAN GOATSUCKER.—(Cagrimulgus the teeth of a comb, a structure 
Europaus.) which has never yet been satis- 
: . factorily explained, notwith- 
standing the various theories which have been put forward concerning 
its use. The hind toe of each foot is very mobile, and can be brought 
round to the remaining toes, so that all the claws take their hold in the 
same direction. Apparently, this structure is intended to enable the bird 
to run along the branches of trees, in its nocturnal chase after beetles and 
other insects. 
The Nightjar makes no nest, but choosing some sheltered hollow under 
the shade of a grass tuft, a bunch of fern, bramble, or other defence, there 
lays two eggs on the bare ground. The colour of the egg is greyish white, 
plentifully mottled with pale buff and grey. The young are very similar to 
those of the cuckoo, The plumage of the nightjar is very rich in its colour- 
ing, the tints of buff, grey, black, white, brown, and chestnut being arranged 
in pleasing but most intricate patterns, and easier to be understood from a 
pencil illustration than a description of the pen. 
