140 WANDERINGS IN 



Second With mail. FatliGF lias liaiided down to son, and author 



JOUKNEY. 



to author, that this nocturnal thief subsists by milkhig 



the flocks. Poor injured little bird of night, how sadly 

 hast thou suffered, and how foul a stain has inattention 

 to facts put upon thy character ! Thou hast never robbed 

 man of any part of his property, nor deprived the kid of 

 a drop of milk. 



When the moon shines bright, you may have a fair 

 opportunity of examining the Goatsucker, You will see 

 it close by the cows, goats, and sheep, jumping up every 

 now and then, under their bellies. Approach a little 

 nearer,^he is not sh}^ ' ' he fears no danger, for he knows 

 no sin." See how the nocturnal flies are tormenting the 

 herd, and with what dexterity he springs up and catches 

 them, as fast as they alight on the belly, legs, and udder 

 of the animals. Observe how quiet they stand, and how 

 sensible they seem of his good offices, for they neither 

 strike at him, nor hit him with their tail, nor tread on 

 him, nor try to drive him away as an uncivil intruder. 

 Were you to dissect him, and inspect his stomach, you 

 would find no milk there. It is full of the flies which have 

 been annoying the herd. 



Itspiumage. The prettily mottled plumage of the Goatsucker, like 

 that of the owl, wants the lustre which is observed in the 

 feathers of the birds of day. This, at once marks him as 

 a lover of the pale moon's nightly beams. There are nine 

 species here. The largest appears nearly the size of the 



