CAPRIMULGUS, the goatsucker, in natural history, a genus of birds of the order Passeres. Generic character : bill short and hooked at the end ; mouth extremely wide, with seven or more stiff bristles on the upper mandible ; tongue entire at the end and small ; tail of ten feathers, and not forked ; legs short ; toes united as far as the first joint by a membrane ; middle claw with a broad serrate edge.
The birds of this genus, unless dis turbed, or in cloudy and gloomy wea ther, seldom make their appearance by day, but by night are active and alert in the pursuit of insects, which constitute their food. The female deposits only two eggs, and on the bare ground. There are to Gmelin nineteen species, though Latham enumerates only fifteen. The most curious and interesting are— C. Europxus, or the European goat sucker. This is the only species met with in Europe, in every part of which it may be found, though no where abun dantly, and it is never observed to unite in companies. Being migratory, it arrives in England in May, and quits it in Sep tember. It is a mortal enemy to various insects, and particularly to cockchafers, six of which, besides four very large moths, have been found in its stomach.
The glare of day is overpowering to its sight, which is cleared by twilight. During this, therefore, it is in quest of food, and in full activity. It is singular for perching, not across a branch as other birds do, but lengthwise : the female lays her eggs on the ground instead of a nest, apparently little anxious for their maturity : though when disturbed she will move them it is said to a place ima gined by her to be more secure.
C. Virginianus, or the Virginian goat sucker. This bird arrives in Virginia in April, and inhabits principally the moun tainous parts of that country. As the evening advances, it approaches the ha bitations of man, and, fixing on a post or rail, utters many times one plaintive cry; and from the evening till the morning this movement and cry are with short in tervals repeated. Instead of pursuing in sects always on the wing, it often leaps up for them as they pass with the most successful dexterity, falling back again upon its perching place. Its flesh is va lued for food.