1851.J 187 



indifferently however, and is, as Bonaparte observes, " vix hujus generis," It 

 belongs more properly to m)' genus Lurocalis (Art. 23 of this paper.) 



20. Chordeiles hrasilianus. (Gm.) 



1. Caprimulgus brasilianus. Gm. Syst. Nat. ii, p. 1031, (1788) a name 

 given on the faith of "the Brazilian Goatsucker" of Latham Gen. Syn. ii. pt. 2, 

 p. 598 (1783) who compiled fromBrisson Orn. ii. p. 483 (1760) who copied from 

 Marcgrave and Piso's "Ibijau Brasiliensibus ; Noitibo Lusitanis," Hist. Nat. 

 Bras. p. 195 (1648.) 



2. Caprimulgus noitibo. Vieill. Nouv. Diet. x. p. 241, a name substituted 

 by Vieillot for the above. 



3. Caprimulgus variegalus. "Vieill. Nouv. Diet, x p 238, (1817) a name 

 given on the faith of" Del Jaspeado" of Azara, Apunt. ii. p. 546. (1805.) 



4. < Caprimulgus jaspideus, Merrem." Bonap. Consp Av. p 61. 



" Caprimulgus brasilianus, Lin. Gm. Prinz. Max. Beitr. iii. p. 337," is errone- 

 ously given in Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, Orn. p. 20, as a synonyme for Capri- 

 mulgus ocellatus, Tschudi, Fau. Peru. pi. 5, fig 2, originally described in "Avium 

 conspectus Fau. Per. p. 8 (1844,) and which is certainly the bird described by 

 the Prince de VVied under the name of " C. brasilianus, Linn. Gm. Lath." 



C. oceUatus, Tsch., we regard at present as an aberrant Antrostom^is, and it 

 does not belong to the same genus as the C. brasilianus, Gm., which is a 

 Chordeiles. 



Upon referring to the description given by Marcgrave, as above, which is 

 copied almost verbatim by Willoughby, (Orn. p. 70) and essentially by Brisson, 

 Latham, and Vieillot, characters will be found, I think, sufficient to determine 

 both genus and species, "Caput habet latum et compressum, exterius autem 

 oculos ambit circulus exo albo flavescens. Rostellum minimum habet quod non 

 excedit crassitiem dentis aranei (sorex araneus, Linn ?) nee tam longum est. 

 Nares tamcn patentes in rostro. Caudam habet elegantem,quam in latum potest 

 explicare, duos digitos longam, cum cujus extremitate alae desinunt. Crura alba 

 et secundum corporis molem parvula, vix semidigitum longa." 



Among the American Caprimuldigas the colored ring around the eye, the very 

 small bill, the short tail, and the wings equal to the tail in length, are combined 

 only in the genus Chordeiles. Nothing is said by Marcgrave about the bristles 

 at the base of the bill, but as he particularly mentions them in the description of 

 his only other species, (p. 202,) it is safe to infer that none existed in the present 

 bird, which raises an additional presumption in favor of Chordeiles. 



Let us see what can be made of the specific characters : " Avicula hirundinis 

 magnitudine, pennas in toto corpore inferiore habet ex albis et nigro mixtas ut 

 Niseis, in capite, dorso, alls et cauda nigricante et albido inspersa grata varietate; 

 nonnihil quoque flavedinis albedini admixtum, uno verbo, nigra est et punctulata 

 subtiliter hinc inde." 



This description applies to the bird now before me, which is that described 

 with his usnal great ability by the Prince de VVied as C. semitorquatus. The 

 coloring of the under surface of the body bears a decided resemblance to that of 

 Accipiter nisus, (Linn.) and in all respects I think it is clearly the C. hrasilianus, 

 Gm. 



It will be observed that the color of the tail is represented as similar to that of 



