CAPEIMULGTJS RUFIGEXA.
lines. The lateral and the posterior parts of the neck, in front of interscapulars
with a rusty bulf-orange collar blotched with umber-brown, and on each side
of the throat, immediately below the angle of the mouth, is a large white spot,
the one separated from the other by the intervention of a few feathers spotted
buff and umber-brown. Eyes dark brown. Tarsi and toes intermediate
between buff-orange and yellowish brown ; claws brownish red.
F orm, &c.I|Bill subtriangular, and the culmen throughout its whole length
distinctly defined, and considerably curved towards the point; upper mandible,
immediately before frontal feathers, with a thin sprinkling of short rigid
bristles. Wings of moderate length, slightly rounded, and when folded reach
within an inch of the tip of the tail; the second and third quill feathers equal
and longest, the first slightly shorter, and the fourth a little shorter than the
first. Tail slightly rounded. Tarsi and toes rather slender, the upper half
of the former, anteriorly, covered with short feathers, the other parts with
small plates ; claw of middle toe with six, seven, or eight teeth.
DIMENSION'S.
Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines.
Length from the point of the bill to Length of the tarsus .......... ......... 0 19
the tip of the 9 4 of the outer, toe ..... . ......... 0 3
of the bill to the angle of the of the middle toe...... ......... 0 Vh
1 11 s i r
of the wings when folded...... 6 2 of the hinder to e ...... ...... 0 1 2 1
of the tail..................... ..... 5 0
Female.—Colours not known.
During my residence in South Africa, I procured six male birds of this species, but not one
female. It is chiefly found in the eastern districts of the colony, and, in common with the other
Cape species, seeks its food generally in the dusk of the evening, and during the early part of
the night. Districts abounding in brushwood seem to constitute the favourite haunts of the
African Goat-suckers; and where high roads pass through a country so provided, they are most
frequently found on or near them, either skimming along them or across them. During the
day they remain perched on the lower branches of brushwood in retired positions, and if by
accident they be disturbed, they never fly further than the first copse which proves suitable as
a place of concealment.