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FAMILY IV. CAPRIMULGIN^E. GOATSUCKERS. 



Mouth opening to beneath the centre of the eyes; bill much depressed, 

 generally feeble, the horny part being small; upper mandible with the tip 

 somewhat decurved. Nostrils elliptical, prominent, marginate. Eyes ex- 

 tremely large. Aperture of ear elliptical, very large. Head of extreme 

 breadth, depressed; body very slender. Feet very small; tarsus partially 

 feathered, scaly; anterior toes webbed at the base; hind toe small, and versa- 

 tile, all scutellate above; claw of third toe generally elongated, with the inner 

 margin thin and pectinate. Plumage very soft and blended. Wings very 

 long, the second and third quills longest. Tail long, of ten feathers. (Eso- 

 phagus rather wide, without crop; stomach very large, roundish, its muscular 

 coat very thin, and composed of a single series of strong fasciculi; epithelium 

 very hard, with longitudinal rugae; intestine short and wide; coeca large, 

 oblong, narrow at the base; cloaca globular. Trachea of nearly uniform 

 width, without inferior laryngeal muscles. Nest on the ground, or in hollow 

 trees. Eggs generally two. Young covered with down. Very nearly allied 

 in some respects to the Owls. 



Genus I.— CAPRIMULGUS, Linn. GOATSUCKER. 



Bill feeble, gape extending to beneath the posterior angle of the eye. 

 Nostrils elliptical, prominent. Wings long, pointed, the second quill longest; 

 tail long. Claw of middle toe pectinate. Along the base of the bill on each 

 side a series of feathers having very strong shafts, terminating in an elastic 

 filamentous point, and with the barbs or lateral filaments extremely slender, 

 distant, and not extended beyond the middle of the shaft. Plumage very 

 soft and blended. Wings long and pointed, the second quill longest; tail 

 long, rounded. 



