10 
CAPRIMULGUS AMERICANUS. 
throwing the head forward, and uttering a kind of 
guttural whizzing sound, striking also violently with 
their wings, which seem to be their only offensive 
weapons ; for they never attempt to strike with the 
bill or claws. 
About the middle of August, they begin to move 
off towards the south ; at which season they may he 
seen almost every evening, from five o’clock until after 
sunset, passing along the Schuylkill and the adjacent 
shores, in widely scattering multitudes, all steering 
towards the south. I have counted several hundreds 
within sight at the same time, dispersed through the 
air, and darting after insects as they advanced. These 
occasional processions continue for two or three 
weeks,* none are seen travelling in the opposite direc- 
tion. Sometimes they are accompanied by at least 
twice as many barn swallows, some chimney swallows 
and purple martins. They are also most numerous 
immediately preceding a northeast storm. At this 
time also they abound in the extensive meadows on 
the Schuylkill and Delaware, where I have counted 
fifteen skimming over a single field in an evening. On 
shooting some of these, on the 14th of August, their 
stomachs were almost exclusively filled with crickets. 
From one of them I took nearly a common snuff-box 
full of these insects, all seemingly fresh swallowed. 
By the middle or 20th of September, very few of 
these birds are to he seen in Pennsylvania; how far 
south they go, or at what particular time they pass the 
southern boundaries of the United States, I am unable 
to say. None of them winter in Georgia. 
The ridiculous name goatsucker, — which was first 
bestowed on the European species, from a foolish notion 
that it'sucked the teats of the goats, because, probably, 
it inhabited the solitary heights where they fed, which 
nickname has been since applied to the whole genus, — I 
have thought proper to omit. There is something- 
worse than absurd in continuing to brand a whole 
family of birds with a knavish name, after they are 
universally known to be innocent of the charge. It is 
