235 
FAMILY — CAPRIMULGIDAE, GOATSUCKERS. 
General Description. The Goatsuckers have flattened heads, very small bills, and 
enormous mouths, with gape extending to behind the eye (Figure 242). The feet are 
small and very weak and the middle claw pectinated or furnished with comb-like serrations 
as in the Herons (Figure 243). The plumage is very soft in texture and coloured in wood- 
browns, neutral buffs, and greys. 
Distinctions. The above characters should be sufficient to distinguish this family as 
they are not similar to those of any other Canadian birds. 
The Goatsuckers were given their name from an old but mistaken 
belief that they sucked the milk from the goats in the pastures over which 
they were seen to wheel and circle, and their immense mouths and pink 
throats gave support to the popular impression. As a fact the birds that 
frequented the pastures were hawking for flying insects that had been 
attracted by the animals. The birds of this family are nocturnal or 
crepuscular. They feed entirely upon insects caught on the wing and 
seldom come to ground except to nest or for repose. Their feet are too 
small and weak to clasp a branch securely and in perching they usually sit 
on large branches, lengthwise instead of — as do most birds — crosswise. 
417. Whip-poor-will. Antrostomus vodferus. L, 9*75. Coloured in soft indefinite 
patterns of wood-browns and grey with suggestions of rufous and ochre. There is little 
broad pattern in the colouring, but much fine detail. On the under parts there is only a 
faint suggestion of barring, and the coloration of the whole bird is like that of a great 
brown moth. 
Distinctions. With its small bill, enormous gape, long mouth bristles (Figure 242) 
and soft, wood-brown coloration, possible of confusion only with the Nighthawk. It is 
easily distinguished from that species by the following points: there is a white collar across 
the base of the throat, but the throat itself is dark; the last half of the tail feathers, except 
of the middle pair, is white in the male, and tipped with buffy in the female; the spread 
wing shows no white spot. Because of its eastern range, large size, and very much longer 
tail, not likely to be confused with the western Poor-will that resembles it closely in 
coloration and habit. 
Field Marks. A wood-brown, long-winged, long-tailed bird, with no conspicuous 
white spot in the wing, that rises from the undergrowth with a loose floppy flight, flies 
low, and soon alights again on the ground beyond. More often recognized by sound at 
night than by sight in the day. Its call at night, a soft whistle resembling the words 
“Whip poor will" repeated many times, is familiar to all frequenters of the eastern wood- 
lands. 
Nesting. Eggs laid directly on the ground or on dead leaves. 
Distribution. Eastern North America. In Canada, west to and including the woods 
and bluffs of southern Manitoba. Has been taken as far west as Prince Rupert, Saskat- 
chewan. 
SUBSPECIES. The subspecies accredited to Canada is the Northern one Antros- 
omus vodferus vodferus. 
