Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/735

GOATSUCKER, a bird from very ancient times absurdly believed to have the habit implied by the common name it bears in many European tongues besides our own— as testified by the Greek AZ)/o0fi)a9, the Latin Capri- znulgus, Italian Succiacapre, Spanish C’/zolacabras, French Tettec/eévre, and German Ziegeiznzel/cer. The common Goatsucker (Ca.prz'nm[_r/us europceus, Liiin.), is admittedly the type of a very peculiar and distinct Family C'aprimul- _r/iilcc, a group remarkable for the flat head, enormously wide mouth, large eyes, and soft, pencilled phiinage of its members, which vary in size from a Lark to a Crow. lts position has been variously assigned by systeinatists. Though of late years judiciously removed from the Passeres, in which Linnaeus placed all the species known to him, Professor Huxley considers it to form, with two other Families——the Swifts (C'_i/psclidce) and Hiiniiniug-birds ('1'7-ochiliclce), the division C3/psel077L07‘p/ace of his larger group A](JV_'/I/‘t/lz');’])L(ltll/U, which is equivalent in the main to the Liiinieaii 1’a.s.»-eres There are two ways of regarding the Caprimulgicl-e—oiie including the genus Poclargus and its allies, the other recognizing them as a distinct Family, l’o«.lur5'/idle. As a matter of convenience we shall here comprehend these last in the Caprimulgitlw, which will then contain two subfamilies, C'a.prinm.l_r/ince and 1’od(u'- qinre; for what, according to older authors, constitutes a third, though represented only by ;S'leato2'm7s, the singular Oil—bird, or Guacharo, certainly seems to require separation as an independent Family (see Guacharo).

Common Goatsucker.

Some of the differences between the Oaprimulgina’ and Poclar_.r/[nae have been pointed out by Mr Sclater (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1866, p. 123), and are very obvious. In the former, the outer toes have four plialanges only, thus presenting a very uncommon character among birds, and the middle claws are pectinated ; while in the latter the normal number of five phalanges is found, and the claws are smooth, and other distinctions more recondite have also been indicated by him (tom. cit, p. 582). The C(1prim2z.l_qinre may be further divided into those having the gape thickly beset by strong bristles, and those in which there are few such bristles or iione—the former containing the genera Capri- nzulgus, Antrostmmc..<, N_7/ctidronzus, and others, and the latter Poclaqer, Chordiles, Lyncornis, and a few more. The common Goatsucker of Europe (C em-opceus) arrives late in spring from its winter-retreat in Africa, and its pre- sence is soon made known to us by its habit of chasing its prey, consisting chiefly of moths and cockchafers, in the even- ing-twilight. As the season advances the song of the cock, from its singularity, attracts attention amid all rural sounds. This song seems to be always uttered when the bird is at rest, though the contrary has been asserted, and is the con- tinuous repetition of a single barring note. as of a thin lath fixed at one end and in a state of vibration at the other, and loud enough to reach in still weather a distance of half- a-niile or more. On the wing, while toying with its mate, or performing its rapid evolutions round the trees where it finds its food, it has the habit of occasionally producing another and equally extraordinary sound, sudden and short, but somewhat resembling that made by swinging a thong in the air, though whether this noise proceeds from its mouth is not ascertained. In general its flight is silent, but at times when disturbed from its repose, its wings may be heard to smite together. The Goatsucker, or, to use per- haps its commoner English name, N iglitjar,^[1] passes the day in slumber, crouching on the ground or perchiiig on a tree —in the latter case sitting not across the branch but length- ways, with its head lower than its body. In hot weather, however, its song may sometimes be heard by day and even at noontide, but it is then uttered, as it were, drowsily, and without the vigour that characterizes its crepusciilar or nocturnal performance. Towards evening the bird becomes active, and it seems to pursue its prey throughout the night uniiiterruptedly, or only occasionally pausing for a few seconds to alight on a bare spot—a pathway or road- and then resuming its career. It is one of the few birds that absolutely make no nest, but lays its pair of beautifully- marbled eggs on the ground, generally where the herbage is short, and often actually on the soil. So light is it that the act of brooding, even where there is some vegetable growth, produces no visible depression of the grass, moss, or lichens on which the eggs rest, and the finest sand equally fails to exhibit a trace of the parental act. Yet scarcely any bird shows greater local attachment, and the precise site chosen one year is almost certain to be occupied the next. The young, covered when hatched with dark- spotted down, are not easily found, nor are they more easily discovered on becoming fledged, for their plumage almost entirely resembles that of the adults, being a mixture of reddish-brown, grey, and black, blended and mottled in .a iiiaiiner that passes description. They soon attain their full size and power of flight, and then take to the same manner of life as their parents. In autumn all leave their sum- mer haunts for the south, but the exact time of their departure has hardly been ascertained. The habits of the Nightjar, as thus described, seem to be more or less essen- tially those of the whole Subfamily——the differences obser- vable being apparently less than are found in other gioups of birds of similar extent.

A second species of Goatsucker (C. rzzficollis), which is

somewhat larger, and has the neck distinctly marked with rufous, is a summer visitant to the south-western parts of Europe, and especially to Spain and Portugal. The occur. rence of a single example of this bird at Killiiigworth, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, in October 1856, has been re- corded by hlr Hancock (Ibis, 1862, p. 39) ; but the season of its appearance argues the probability of its being but a casual straggler from its proper home. Many other species of Ccipn'nml,_(/us inhabit Africa, Asia, and their islands, while one (C-'. macrm-us) is found in Australia. Very nearly allied to this genus is A-ntrostomcs, an American group containing many species, of which the Chuck—will’s- widow (.1. ccu'olL'nensz's) and the Whip-poor-will (A. raci- ferus) of the eastern United States (the latter also reaching Canada) are familiar examples. Both these birds take their common name from the cry they utter, and their habits seem to be almost identical with those of the Old- Vorld Goatsuckers. Passing over some other forms which need not here be mentioned, the genus A-.'.?!(‘l(.(l7‘0?)l1“c’

though consisting of only one species (E. allxicolfis) which

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1. Other English names of the bird are Evcjai‘, Ferii-Owl, C'liu1'ii-Owl, and Wheel-bii-d——tlie last from the bird’s song resembling the noise made by a spinning-wheel in motion.