3o8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



NIGHT HAWKS AND WHIP-POOR-WILLS. 



By Dr. R. W. SHUFELDT. 



THERE is hardly a season goes by that I am not asked, by 

 some one more or less interested in our native birds, " What 

 is the difference between a night hawk and a whip-poor-will ? " 

 Generally the belief is that these two very interesting forms are 

 one and the same species ; but this is by no means the case, and a 

 full reply to the question leads us to the consideration of one of 

 the most attractive groups in the entire range of our American 

 avifauna. A number of years ago the writer made a very careful 

 study of the representatives of this family as they occur in our 

 country, and some of the more important facts as brought out 

 by that research will be set forth in the present article. Those 

 most familiar with the habits and anatomical structure of night 

 hawks and whip-poor-wills and their allies place them in a sub- 

 order Caprhnulgi, which primarily presents us with a family 

 Ca'prhnuicjidcR, which family in the United States contains at 

 least the four very distinctive genera Antroatomns, PliahEnop- 

 tilus, Nyctidronius, and Chordeiles. To the first-named genus 

 belong the true whip-poor-will {A. vociferus), together with 

 Stephen's whip-poor-will, and the chuck-will's-widow of the 

 Southern States, with others. PhaloRnoptilus Nidtalli, the inter- 

 esting little poor-will of the Western States, is found in the sec- 

 ond genus, while Nyctidronius alhicollis is representative of the 

 third. Finally, in ChordeUes we have the night hawks, as the 

 common form, C virginianus, as well as the Western night hawk, 

 the Cuban night hawk, and the Texan night hawk ( C. texensis). 



To start with these it will be seen that our night hawk and our 

 whip-poor-will belong to two very different genera of the Capri- 

 tnidgidcE. Not only is this the case, but these two birds are in 

 habits and in structure more widely separated from each other 

 than is the whip-poor-will from any other genus of the family. 

 Indeed, night hawks are quite aberrant types, while, as a matter of 

 fact, none of our United States caprimulgine birds give us any 

 hint of the extraordinary foreign representatives of this suborder, 

 some of which will be referred to further on. 



Upon comparing a night hawk with a whip-poor-will we find 

 that, apart from the very well defined difference these birds ex- 

 hibit in their internal structure and in the general tone and 

 markings of their plumage, there are a few external striking 

 features that ought to enable any person to distinguish one from 

 the other at the most casual glance. 



I refer especially to the long, conspicuous bristles projecting 

 from about the mouth of the whip-poor-will, a character almost 



