492 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol, 90 



COCCYZUS ERYTHROPTHALMUS (Wilson) : Black-billed Cttckoo 



In migration this cuckoo was taken on Smith Island on May 13 

 and 6 miles north of Southport on May 16. A male was shot at 

 4,850 feet elevation on Three Tops Mountain 2 miles southeast of 

 Creston on July 13, and a female at 5,100 feet on Elk Knob, 7 miles 

 north of Boone, Watauga County, on July 17. The latter were on 

 their nesting grounds. 



Family STRIGIDAE 



OTUS ASIO ASIO (Liimaens) : Sonthern Screech Owl 



A male taken 6 miles north of Southport, May 15, is typical of 

 the southern form. It measures as follows: Wing 146.5, tail 70.5, 

 culmen from cere 14.2, tarsus 29.3 mm. On December 31, 1933, I 

 found a female dead in the road near the bridge north of Kitty 

 Hawk. This bird has a wing measurement of 162.0 mm., and while 

 a little large it is assigned under the present subspecies as an inter- 

 mediate, though Leon Kelso has considered it representative of 

 O. a. naeviits. It is to be expected that the latter race ranges through 

 the highland area of North Carolina, but the actual extent that it may 

 cover will need to be established by specimens. 



STRIX VARIA GEORGICA Latham: Florida Barred Owl 



Two specimens available include one that I obtained near Bath 

 on January 16, 1930, and one forwarded from Bethel by Velva 

 Howard on January 22, 1940. Both of these have the bare area on 

 the toes extensive as is characteristic of this southern race. The 

 distribution of this and the northern form in North Carolina remains 

 to be ascertained. It is possible that the southern race extends 

 throughout the Coastal Plain. 



Family CAPRIMULGIDAE 



CAPRIMULGUS CAROLINENSIS Gmelin: Chuck-will's-widow 



A male was secured at Southport on May 19 and a female on Smith 

 Island on May 22. 



Goatsuckers as a group exhibit a remarkable similarity in color 

 and form, and from external characters it must be conceded that 

 there is reason for including the whippoorwills and chuck-will's- 

 widows and their near relatives of the New World in the genus 

 Ca'primulgus. Ridgway's endeavors to segregate a number of genera 

 have not proved acceptable, as the characters he found are not certain. 

 I believe, however, that the broad genus Caprimulgus as at present 

 constituted will be divided eventually on the basis of osteological 

 characters. At present skeletons of only a few species are available, 



