LECTURE VI. 205 



small in most species, but broad at the base, the 

 gape or swallow excessively wide; the edges of 

 the jaws beset with strong bristles, the wings 

 long, and the tail even, or not forked. They are, 

 in general, birds of moderate size, and are remark- 

 able for their curiously variegated or speckled 

 plumage, without any brilliancy of colour. The 

 common European Goatsucker, the only species 

 known in Europe, is a migratory bird, appearing 

 in England during the summer months, and feed- 

 ing, like the rest of this genus, on the larger kind 

 of Moths, Beetles, and other insects*. The 

 largest of the genus is the Caprimulgus Grandis 

 or Great South American Goatsucker, in size 

 scarce inferior to a Buzzard, and with a mouth so 

 wide as to measure three inches in the gape, or 

 from the tip of the bill to the angle of the mouth. 

 Its plumage is a dull cream colour with very nu- 

 merous brown freckles or variegations. But the 

 most curious or singular of all the Goatsuckers is 

 an African species discovered not many years ago 

 in Sierra Leona, and which is somewhat smaller 

 than the common European Goatsucker. It is 



* It flies by night, and is sometimes called the Fern-Owl, or 

 Churn-Owl. 



