EUROPEAN GOAT-SUCKER .— Caprimulgus Uuropaus. 
The common Night jar, Goat-sucker, or Pern Owl, lives in England, and is 
very plentiful in some places, provided that they be at some distance from towns. 
In the New Eorest the Nightjars abound, and may be heard every evening as they 
fly round the trees in chase of the insects, or sit upon the branches, uttering their 
curious whirring cry. It is a very useful bird, because it feeds much on the 
cockchaffers, which are among the most destructive of the insect tribe, and unless 
their numbers were checked by birds and other means, would be more terrible 
than the locusts of the east. 
The Nightjar also feeds on moths of various kinds, and catches them by 
sweeping quickly and silently among the branches of the trees near which the 
moth tribes most love to congregate. While engaged in their sport, they will 
occasionally settle on a bank, a wall, a post, or other convenient perch, crouch 
downward until they bring their head almost on a level with their feet, and utter 
the peculiar churning note which has earned for them the name of Churn-Owls, 
Jar-Owls, and Spinners. Their cry has been rather well compared to that sound 
which is produced by the larger beetles of the night, but of course much louder, 
and with the addition of the characteristic ”chur-r-r !• — chur-r-r ! ” Sometimes, 
although but seldom, the Nightjar utters its cry while on wing. When it settles, 
it always seats itself along a branch, and almost invariably with its head pointing 
towards the trunk of the tree. 
Athough rather a shy bird, and avoiding the presence of mankind, it is bold 
enough on occasion, and when it finds an abundance of food, or when it desires 
to defend its young, it cares little for any strange form, whether of man or 
beast. 
