NIGHT-JAR

The name of a remarkable British bird, the type of the genus Caprimulgus, distinguished by the wide gape of its beak, whence perhaps has arisen the popular idea of its sucking the teats of cattle, and its other common name "goat-sucker," the equivalent of which it lias received in most European languages, and which Linua-us has continued in its generic designation. It is scarcely nece ary to observe that the structure of the bill renders the act of sucking impracticable in the night-jar or any other bird. The genus Caprimulgus is characterized by a wide and deeply-cleft beak, armed with strong bristles, and capable of engulphing the larger insects; the nostrils placed at its base are like small tubes; the wings are lengthened; the feet short, feathered to the toes, which are connected together by a membrane at their base; the claw of the middle toe is commonly pectinated at the base. The night-jars are most active and hunt their prey in the dusk; they have the same light and soft plumage as other nocturnal birds. Our common species (Ca/yr. Europams) is remarkable for the loud sound it emits, like the burr or jarring of a spinning-wheel. [s. 844]