WESTERN NIGHTHAWK 235 



CHORDEILES MINOR HENRYI Cassin 

 WESTERN NIGHTHAWK 



HABITS 



Dr. Gross has contributed such a full life history of the eastern 

 nighthawk that it hardly seems necessary to say much about the other 

 subspecies, as they are all much alike in general habits. 



The above name formerly covered most of the western races that 

 are now recognized as subspecifically distinct. This race is now 

 supposed to be confined to the southern Rocky ISIountains and adja- 

 cent high plains, from Colorado southward into Mexico, Chihuahua, 

 and Sonora. Other races are recognized in the more lowland plains. 



Cassin (1862), in his original description of this bird, named it as 

 a species in honor of Dr. T. Charlton Henry and said of it: "This 

 bird may be distinguished from other American species by its color, 

 which is lighter and of a different style of variegation, the prevailing 

 tone being a dull, pale reddish and yellowish, somewhat approaching 

 what is called buff or drab color. It is larger than Chordeiles 

 virginianusP 



Dr. Harry C. Oberholser (1914), in comparing it with some more 

 recently described races, says that it is "similar to Ch^ordeiles mrgin- 

 ianu^ howell'i., but upper surface, both ground color and markings, 

 much darker, the latter more tawny and also coarser; lower parts 

 posteriorly more huffy, anteriorly more rufescent." It is lighter and 

 more brownish than hesperis^ darker and more rufescent than sen- 

 netti, and lighter and more brownish than virginianus. 



Nesting. — The nesting habits of the western nighthawk are very 

 similar to those of the eastern bird. Dr. Edgar A. Mearns (1890) 

 says of his experience with it in the mountains of Arizona : "I have 

 never known this species to infringe on the territory of the Texan 

 Nighthawk during the breeding season; each keeps to its own 

 ground, the latter being confined to the region below the pines, and 

 the former residing in the pines and spruces, breeding in great num- 

 bers in these limited areas. * * * Two fresh eggs were taken at 

 Flagstaff on June 18, 1887, in a level place, bestrewn with volcanic 

 scoria, beneath the pines." 



We found only the western nighthawk in the mountains and only 

 the Texas nighthawk in the lower A^alleys. After I left, Mr. Wil- 

 lard found a nest on July 9, 1922, at an elevation of 5,200 feet in the 

 Huachuca Mountains, Arizona. The eggs were lying in the open oji 

 gravelly soil ; just before the eggs were taken, a heavy hailstorm oc- 

 curred, during which nearly 6 inches of hail fell ; evidently the female 

 had covered the eggs during the storm, or the eggs might have been 

 broken. 



