GRILLOTALPHUS OR MOLE CRICKET.

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which I frequently used to pass weeks together, manyvarieties of the bittern and of the ''goat-sucker (caprimulgi)abound. Of the bitterns, one very small variety is re-markable for its Mephistophiles -like appearance, andaccounts for the frequent appearance of its representationupon Egyptian obelisks and monuments, its body is not solarge as a pigeon, but the beak is a foot long, and theusual attitude of the bird mounted on its equally long legs,is with the sharp sword-like beak pointed vertically upwards.I winged one of those birds and kept it alive above a month,when it excited the curiosity of all who heard of it and sawit. But in an unlucky moment my cat killed it and it isnow preserved in the collection of my late friend DoctorCotugno at Naples.

Of caprimulgi, I have shot a very great variety; themost remarkable of which is one that has the exact re-presentation of a white moth deducted on each side of theexpanded tail of the bird, so that when flying about in thenight, the moths which constitute its principal food, seeingthe moths upon the tail come fluttering round their devourerinstead of avoiding him. I forget whether it is in this samespecimen of the goatsucker or in another, that I haveremarked a very curious arrangement for the purpose ofenabling the bird to see into its own mouth, when extendedwide open and their mouths are enormous, so that theycannot easily miss their flying prey. Upon opening themouth of this kind of goatsucker, which they can do, so asto place each half of their beaks at a straight line with theother, a large portion of the skin beneath the eyes becomesstretched and quite free of feathers, is as transparent asglass, so as to allow the eyes to see directly through it, intothe mouth, or further on in that direction. The operations ofthe caprimulgi, being carried on during the darkness of thenight, have not been so much noticed by naturalists, as they