LAND BIRDS. 373 



Order XVI. MACROCHIRES. Goatsuckers, Swifts and Hummingbirds. 



KEY TO FAMILIES. 



A. Nail of middle toe pectinate (with a comb) on inner edge 

 Caprimulgida3. Whippoorwills and Nighthawks. 

 Page 

 AA. Nail of middle toe not pectinate. B, BB. 



B. Each tail-feather tipped with a sharp spine (Fig. 

 92). Family 48. Micropodidse. Swifts. 

 Page 

 BB. Tail-feathers not spine-tipped; birds of very 

 small size, less than four inches long; plumage 

 more or less metallic. Family 49. TrochilidiD. 

 Hummingbirds. Page 



Family 47. CAPRIMULGIDiE. Whippoorwills and Nighthawks. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



A. A conspicuous white patch in the middle of the wing (on several pri- 

 maries). Nighthawk. No. 174. 

 A A. No white patch on the wing. Whippoorwill. No. 173. 



173. Whippoorwill. Antrostomus vociferus vociferus (Wilson). (417) 

 Synonyms: Caprimulgus vociferus, Wils. — Capr. virginianus, Vieill. 



Plate XXXVIII. 



The diminutive bill and immense mouth, taken in connection with the 

 very small feet and the pectinate middle claw, are distinctive marks of the 

 goatsuckers; in addition a conspicuous pure white patch in the wing marks 

 the Nighthawk, and the absence of such a spot indicates the Whippoorwill. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States to the Plains, and from latitude 

 50° southward to Guatemala. 



In Michigan the Whippoorwill is universally distributed, and although 

 nowhere abundant may be found in almost every section, except possibly 

 in regions where the woodland has been entirely removed, or in the most 

 populous districts immediately about the larger cities. In many places 

 where it was formerly common it is now reported as seldom heard, but it 

 is probable that it has not entirely disappeared from any of these sections. 

 It is not a particularly wary bird and even seems to prefer the vicinity of 

 dwellings, frequenting the open pastures and fields in farming districts 

 and seeming to have a special preference for sandy roads bordered by low 

 trees and bushes. 



It is one of the later birds to ari-ive from the south, although it reaches 

 southern Michigan almost always in Api-il and even the northern part of 



