O F B I R D S. 223 
ana it is faici, if (he apprehend they are dif- 
covered, that (lie very dexteroufly contrives to 
pufh them into another hole, which, though as 
expofed as before, may appear to her more fecure. 
The birds of this genus have a remarkable ha- 
bit of flying round a tree, in full leaf, perhaps a 
hundred times fucceflively, in a rapid and irregu¬ 
lar manner, fometimes darting inftantly down, as 
it were to feize their prey; at other times rifling as 
inftantaneoufly, probably in chace of thofe infects 
which are fluttering there. 
As the Goatfluckers wing their flight with great 
rapidity, and with their beaks open, they make a 
whirring noife, which has been compared to that 
of a fpinning wheel, from which they have been 
called Wheel-birds. 
They feldom perch, but when they do, it is 
lengthways on the branch. 
The EUROPEAN GOATSUCKER. 
The plumage is very Angular, and not eafily deferibed ; 
(be ground colour is almoft black, but it is mottled like th» 
Woodcock’s. 
The legs are fhort, and feathered below the Knee. 
The noftrils are faintly tubular. 
This is the only fpecies that is found in Eu¬ 
rope. 
K 4 
It 
