142 PKOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



are various soft materials felted together ; a few hairs or a little wool 

 form the liDing; the rims are covered with lichens; the cavity in slight;, 

 varying from .8 to 1.25 iuch iu depth by 2 in width, aud the whole 

 structure is easily overlooked. The usual number of eggs is three ; the 

 ground-color is a rich creamy-white, with a ring of large brown and 

 lilac blotches at the larger end. Fourteen eggs now before me average 

 .73 by .54. A nest of this species, found May 19, 1877, contained a 

 young Dwarf Cowbird and three addled eggs, which latter I removed. 

 On revisiting the same nest ten days later, I found three fresh eggs, on 

 which the female was sitting. As the young Cowbird could not have 

 been fledged by this time, it would seem as if the Flycatchers, on find- 

 ing that their eggs had been removed, had thrown out the parasite and 

 laid again. — (P. ruhinens, Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 475. — P. ruhineus mexi- 

 canus, Sennet T, B. Rio Grande, 34.) 



114. Ceryle alcyon, (Liuu.) 



Not common from October until April. — (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 471. — 

 Sennett, B. Rio Grande, 36.) 



115. Ceryle americana rar. cabanisi, (Tschudi.) 



Two specimens, obtained in May and October respectively. The 

 scarcity of Kingfishers on the lower Rio Grande is doubtless due to the 

 muddy water, that renders it difficult for them so see their pr^y. — (0. 

 americana, Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 472.) 



Genus NYCTIDROMUS, Gould. 



Nyctidromus, Gould, Icon. Av. II, 1838. (Type, N. derhyanun, Gould.)— Gray, List Gen- 

 era B. ed. 2, 1841, 10; Gen. and Subg. 1855, 11 ; Hand-list, I, 1869, 60.— Ghay 

 & Mitch., Genera B. I, 1849, 48.— Cassin, P. A. N. S. 1851, 179.— Scl., P. Z. S. 

 1866, 144.— Sol. & Salv., Norn. Neotr. 1873, 97.— Boucard, Cat. Av. 1876, No. 

 2291. 



ISucapripodiis, Lesson, 1843 {Jide Gray). 



Lucapripodus, Lesson, 1847 (Jide Gray). 



Cn. — Similar to '■^Antrostomus ", but having the tarsus longer than the 

 middle toe, and completely naked ; the tail about equal to the lengthened 

 wing (instead very much shorter), and the third instead of the second 

 primary longest; lateral toes less than half as long as the middle toe, 

 including the claw. 



The characters given above are all that I am able to discover as dis- 

 tinguishing the present form from the species referred by most writers 

 to the so-called genus Antrostomus, Gould. After very careful compari- 

 sons of species of true Caprimulgus (as restricted) with those of the 

 so-called genera Antrostomus and Stenopsis, I am at alot-s to find charac- 

 ters of generic importance between them. A. carolinensis, the type of 

 the former genus, differs, it is true, from all the others in possessing 

 lateral filaments to the rictal bristles, while A. nuttalli is aberrant in 

 other respects. There is such a difference in the details of form between 

 almost every two species, however, that it is seriously questionable 



