ORD. III. GEN, IV. NIGHT SWALLOW. 



Bill, very fhort, hooked at the end, and very (lightly notched near the point. 



Nostrils, tubular and a little prominent. 



Mouth, very wide: on the edges of the upper part, between the bill and 

 eyes, feven or more ftiff bridles. 



Tongue, fmall, entire at the end. 



Toes, joined by a ftrong membrane as far as the firft joint : the claw of the 

 middle toe broad-edged and ferrated. 



SPECIES I. NIGHT SWALLOW. 



PL 128. 



Caprimulgus Europasus. Lin. Syfl. I. p. 346. 



Le Tette-chevre, ou Crapaud-volant. Brif. Orn. II. p. 470. 



This bird is in length ten inches and half, extent of wing twenty-two, and 

 weighs two ounces and half. The plumage is beautifully variegated, the ground 

 colour, which is nearly black, being mottled with am colour, dark brown, 

 ruft colour, and white, difpofed in lines, bars, and ipots. The eyes are hazel : 

 the legs fhort, and feathered much below the knee. 



The male differs from the female in having an oval fpot of white on the in- 

 ner web of the firft three quills, and another at the end of the two outer tail 

 feathers, the plumage too is in general more bright. 



The night fwallow feeds on infefts, which it takes on the wing like the fwift, 

 but only in the dufk of the evening, fecreting itfelf during the whole of the day 

 in the woods. It comes to us in the end of May, and departs in September. 

 It makes no neft, but lays two eggs on the bare ground, fee the egg, 

 PI. XXIX. Fig. 1. 





