THE CAROLINA GOAT-SUCKER, 
99 
The damage which is done by these brown-backed, white-ribbed, hook-tailed beetles is 
almost incredible, for they are not only extremely destructive in their larval states, but are 
scarcely less voracious when they have assumed their perfect form. Passing a life of three 
years or so below the level of the ground, the larvae 
of the cockchaffer shear away the grass-roots and 
other subterranean vegetation with their scissor-like 
jaws, and are constantly busy in satiating the hunger 
of their huge stomachs, which occupy nearly the 
whole of the body of the grub. When they have 
passed through their earlier changes of form, the 
cockchaffers rise from the ground, and, taking to 
flight, settle upon the trees and devour the foliage just 
as they had previously fed upon the roots. Sometimes 
a whole series of trees may be seen, which have been 
entirely stripped of their leaves by the chaffers. I 
well remember seeing a row of trees that extended 
along a country road that had been totally despoiled 
of their foliage, and which stretched their naked 
branches abroad as if they had been blasted by the 
destroying breath of the Simoom. 
* A yeey remarkable form of plumage is seen in 
the Lyre-tailed Goat-sucker. 
This beautiful bird is a native of Columbia, and is 
notable for the extraordinary development of the 
outer tail-feathers. Although the bird itself is by 
no means large, very little exceeding the common 
Nightjar in dimensions, the total length of an adult 
male Lyre-tailed Goat-sucker is nearly three feet. In- 
deed, the general contour of the body and plumage re- 
mind the observer strongly of the resplendent Trogon, 
a bird which will very shortly be described and 
figured. 
The general color of this species is the mottled dark 
and light brown which is universal among the Goat- 
suckers, but is diversified by a band round the neck 
of rich chestnut. The primaries are nearly black, 
with the exception of a few chestnut spots scattered 
irregularly upon their necks. The extremely elon- 
gated tail-feathers are deep brown-black, edged with 
a warm band of pale brown upon the inner web. The 
outer web is hardly a quarter of an inch wide, while 
the inner is almost an inch and a half in width. Sev- 
eral feathers of the tail project for some distance, and 
lie upon the base of the elongated feathers. 
The Carolina Goat-sitcker is more popularly 
known under the title of Chuck- Will’s- Widow, a 
name which it has earned in consequence of its 
repeated utterance of a cry that exactly resembles 
those words. 
LYKE-TAILED GOAT-SUCKER . — Caprimulgus lyra. 
This pretty and interesting bird resides in the deepest ravines, swamps, and pine ridges, 
where it cannot only obtain shelter and a convenient nesting-place, but is also sure of finding 
a plentiful supply of insect prey. It prefers to roost in the hollows of decayed trees, or other 
