The EUROPEAN NIGHT JAR or COMMON GOATSUCKER (_Caprimulgus Europæus_)
represents a group of birds whose pursuit of food is carried on
_exclusively_ by night. All the various species of nocturnal Goatsuckers
have slender bodies, short necks, and broad wings, not very sharply
pointed at the extremity, as the second quill is slightly longer than
the first. The tail is almost straight at its tip; the beak is short
and broad, narrow at its base, and curves downwards from beneath the
nostrils. The centre toe of the small delicate foot is considerably
longer than the rest, and is connected with that on each side by a fold
of skin extending as far as the first joint; the small inner toe is
entirely detached from the rest; the tarsus is partially covered with
small feathers, and upon its lower portion is defended by horny plates;
the claw upon the middle toe is serrated. The plumage, which is composed
of large feathers, is fleecy; the upper parts of the body are dark grey,
variously marked with brownish black and reddish yellow; the under side
is light grey, streaked and spotted with black and dark brown; the brow
and edges of the jaws are indicated by whitish lines; the three first
quills in the wing of the male are decorated with a white, in the female
with a yellow spot. The centre tail-feathers are grey, striped with
black; the rest are paler, and rather _spotted_ than streaked with black:
they terminate in a pointed white patch. The markings in the plumage of
the female are less distinct than in that of her mate, and the exterior
tail-feathers are spotted and tipped with reddish yellow. The length of
this species is about ten, and its breadth twenty-one inches; the wing
measures seven and a quarter, and the tail between four and five inches.
The European Night Jar inhabits some parts of Asia and the whole of our
continent, if we except its extreme north and the southern provinces of
Spain; in the latter country it is replaced by a very similar bird, the
Red-breasted Goatsucker (_Caprimulgus ruficollis_). It is at present
undecided whether the JOTAKA (_Caprimulgus jotaca_), met with in Japan,
is identical with the European species. (The egg of the European
Goatsucker is represented at Fig. 41, Coloured Plate XVI.)