THE WHIPPOORWILL. 387 



once supposed to be the same. The difference is mainly as 

 follows: The Whippoorwill is some half an inch longer, 

 has a rounded tail, whereas that of the Night Hawk is 

 forked, has a much longer and more pointed wing than the 

 latter, and has a plentiful supply of long bristles protrud- 

 ing from the inside of the mouth. " It lays on the ground, 

 in the woods, constructing no proper nest, and depositing 

 only two eggs. These are elliptical, nearly or quite equal 

 at both ends, about 1.25x0.85, and are curiously scratched 

 and mottled all over with brown surface markings and paler 

 purplish-gray shell colors upon a whitish ground. The ^%% 

 is quite variable in amount of intensity of coloration, some 

 specimens being heavily marbled, w^hile others appear as 

 if faded or bleached, from indistinctness of the tracery." 

 (Coues.) 



This sly bird of the night inhabits Eastern North Amer- 

 ica generally up to 50°, wintering from the Gulf Coast south- 

 ward, and breeding in most of its summer range. 



Chuck-will's-widow {Antrostomus carolinensis) is a closely 

 allied member, along with the Night Hawk and Whippoor- 

 will, of the CaprimulgidcB family, and is found in the South- 

 ern States generally. It is similar to its relatives just de- 

 scribed in color and general appearance, but is nearly twice 



as large. 



Our Night Hawk, Whippoorwill and Chuck-will's-widow, 

 belong to the CaprimulgidcB family, which, in its broadest 

 sense, includes quite a variety of structural peculiarities 

 and is represented throughout the world, particularly in 

 South America; but, in the more restricted sense of the 

 sub-family, CaprimulgincE, is well represented by our two 

 genera, Atitrostomus and Chordeiles. It is this latter group, 

 therefore, which we shall especially notice. As we have 

 observed, they are, for the most part, creatures of the 



