The bird that every innocent goat fears - and with very good reason (if you believe the legend)

                         

Included in The Bird Book is this depiction - in Der Naturen Bloeme  (1350) by artist Jacob van Maerlant - of a bird, thought to be a Nightjar, causing obvious distress to a goat

 

THE mystery of why Nightjars are sometimes known as 'Goatsuckers' receives a fresh airing in The Bird Book - a most absorbing new volume that has just been published.

The notion dates back to 350 years BC when  the Greek philosopher and writer, Aristotle, wrote: "Flying upon the goat, it sucks them whence it has its name."

The Romans followed suit, with Pliny, a 1st Century naturalist, maintaining that the activities of the Nightjar even led to blindness for any goat luckless enough to have its udder targeted.

But although the reputation has prevailed in many nations, including both Britain and North America, it is supported by not one jot of evidence.

The species' diet consists not of goats' milk but  of airborne moths caught in its wide gape by means of twisting and acrobatic flight.

No one seems to have a good word for the Nightjar. Another legend is that it is an unbaptised child doomed to wander in the form of a bird.

All this fascinating anecdotal material  about dozens of the world's individuals and bird groups is peppered liberally throughout The Bird Book, the subtitle of which is The Stories, Science and History of Birds.

Elsewhere, for example, Flamingos also come under the spotlight, notably with a quotation from William Dampier (A New Voyage Around The World, 1697) that a dish of this species' tongue is "fit for a prince's table".

And how many knew that the  legend of a phoenix arising from flames derives (according to one theory) from the spectacle, in the shimmering African heat, of a flamingo on its mud nest as if it were rising from warm ashes?

In one way or another, many birds have  figured  as religious icons - the white dove, representing the Holy Spirit, being the most obvious example.

As the book illustrates, birds have influenced much else in the development of human civilisation - for instance, painting, music, pottery, embroidery, literature, postage stamp design and cuisine.

Elsewhere, by means of often stunning illustrations and precise, jargon-free text, The Bird Book also explores the science of birds - from feeding behaviour to migration and from anatomy to courtship and breeding.

Written, illustrated and edited by a team of experts, it really is a most entertaining, informative and entertaining addition to the bookshelf.

The Bird Book is published in hardback at £30 by DK.

https://www.dk.com/uk/book/9780241634899-the-bird-book/