LONG-TAILED GOAT-SUCKER . — Scotornis climcccurus. 
The Long-Tailed Goat-sucker lives in Western Africa, and is remarkable for 
the length of its tail and the general outline of the body, which looks something 
like that of a Cuckoo. It is really not a large bird, but its long wings and tail 
and its soft, thick plumage, make it appear larger than really is the case. 
The name of Goat-sucker was applied to these birds from a silly notion, still 
believed in some places, that they were in the habit of coming by night and suck- 
ing the milk from the goats as they lay asleep. 
■ In the colour of its plumage it is rather a handsomer bird than the generality 
of Goat-suckers, owing to the quantity of white which is laid in bold markings on 
several parts of its feathers. The chin is white, as is also a streak that passes 
from the corner of the mouth. A broad band of white passes across the 
extremities of the lesser wing coverts, and there is a smaller band of cream colour 
upon the tips of the greater coverts. Another beautifully white band is drawn 
across the middle of the first six primary feathers, and the remaining primaries 
have a spot of white on their tips. The rest of the plumage is variegated with 
black and brown, warmed here and there with a more ruddy hue. The tail is 
also white in several parts, and has a number of very narrow dark bars across the 
middle pair of feathers. 
a 1 
i 
