167 



FORK-TAILED GOATSUCKER. 

 (Caprimulgus forficatus.) 



Ca. Cauda forjicata^ corpore nigro fusco riifo alboque vario^ 



mandibula superiore medio crenata. 

 Goatsucker with a forked tail; the body varied with black, 



foscous, rufous, and white ; the upper mandible crenated in 



the middle. 



Caprimulgus forficatus. Lath. Ltd. Orn. Sup, Ux. 5. 

 Engoulevent a queue fourche. Le Vail. Ois. 1. 178. t. 47. 48. 

 Fork-tailed Goatsucker. Lath. Si/n, Sup. II, 264. 7. 



The length of this species is upwards of twenty- 

 six inches : its beak is black, and it has a groove 

 in the upper mandible, into which the lower one 

 fits when shut : the plumage is similar to that of 

 tlie European Goatsucker, and is composed of a 

 mixture of black, brown, rufous, and white : its 

 tail is much forked, and is extremely long in pro- 

 portion to the size of the bird: its legs are yellow, 



Le Vaillant discovered this species in a decayed 

 hollow tree, which had fallen by the borders of 

 the river of Lions, in the Great Namaqua, in the 

 interior of the Cape of Good Hope: its note is 

 very similar to that of the European species. 



