caprimulgidjE—caprimulgiNuE: true goatsuckers. 567 



uttering with startling vehemence its uncouth cries. The notes are likened to the phrase which 

 has given the name ; they are very rapidly reiterated, with strong accent on the last syllable ; 

 when very near, a clicking sound, and sometimes low murmuring tones, may also be heard. 

 No nest; 2 eggs on ground (dead leaves) or log or stump, in woods, 1.20 X 0.90, down to 1.10 

 X 0.80, nearly equal-ended, white or creamy-white, spotted with browns, lilac and neutral 

 tints. The young are helpless, shapeless, downy masses ; both eggs and young are often 

 removed in the parent's mouth if disturbed, as a cat carries off her kittens, — a practice, 

 however, habitual in this curious family of birds. Unlike the Night-hawk, the Whippuor- 

 will rarely flies by day, unless flushed from its shady retreats. 



A. V. niacroinys'tax. (Gr. ^a/<pd?, ma^TOS, long ; fivara^, nmstax, a moustache.) Stephens' 

 Whippoorwill. Arizona Whippoorwill. Similar: larger: rictal bristles longer and 

 stouter. (J : Throat-bar and superciliary streak ochraceous ; lores and ear-coverts tawny ; 

 white spaces on tail short; under tail-coverts nearly unbarred. Length 10.20; extent 19.40; 

 wing 0.65; tail 5.45; longest rictal bristle 1.80; longest tail-spot 1.55. Arizona, New Mexico, 

 S. W. Texas, and S. on the table lands of Mexico to Guatemala. Discovered over our border 

 .May 22, 1880, in the Cliiricaliua Mts. of Arizona, by F. Stephens; an egg taken July 4 was 

 white, immaculate but for faint neutral tint sliell-spots, 1.17 X 0.87. A. v. arizonce Brewst. 

 Bull. Nutt. Club, vi, Apr. 1881, p. G9; CouES, Key, 2d ed. 1884, p. 452; A. 0. U. List, 1st 

 ed. 1886, No. 417 a ; Ridgw. Man. 1887, p. 299. 



Caprimulgus macromystax Wagl. Isis, 1831, p. \ i,f x' ^-^ V \\? 



5;J3 ; C. rociferus macromysta.c Hartert, Ibis, O^au'** .,.,.^.ry^^?/^^====:^ y/j 



1892, p. 286; A. v. macromi/stax A. 0. U. Auk, ^^^^^'^^^''- nv J/ 

 Jan. 1894, p. 48 ; List, 2d ed. 1895, No. 417 «. ^^"^^//tIUXX ^==^^^^ /# 



PHALiENO'PTILUS. (Gr. (^a\aiva, phula'ma, a '}■{ 



moth ; tvt'CKov, j^tilon, feather : alluding to the pow- — S^j^''' 



dery plumage, like the furriness of a moth's wings. 

 P'ig. 384.) Poor-wills. Nostrils tul)ular, cylin- 

 dric, opening forward and outward. Rictal bristles 

 immense, but simple. Tarsus naked except just on 

 tlie joint above (as in Nyctidromus) , as long as mid- 

 dle toe without claw. Tail scjuare, much shorter Fig 3S4. — Head and foot of Nuttall's Poor- 

 tlian the rounded wings, which fold nearly to its "'"' "''*• ^'^''- (*^- «"**• *>«'• ^- Ri^gway.) 

 end. Plumage peculiarly soft and velvety, in hoar-frosted pattern of coloration. Markings 

 of crown transverse; primaries barred witli black and tawny. Size small. Sexes alike. Note 

 dissyllabic. Eggs white. 



Analysis of Subspecies. 



The normal stock form nuttalli 



Bleached desert form "• nitidus 



Dark coast form "• californtcus 



v. iiiit'talli. (To Th..s. Nuttall.) XiTTALi-'s PooR-wiLL. Aihih ^ 9: Assuming the 

 nppiT parts of a beautiful linnizy-gray ground coli.r, tliis is elegantly frosted over with soft 

 silver-gray, and watered in wavy cross-pattern witli black, these black double crescents enlarg- 

 ing t<t herring-bone marks on scapulars and inner quills. Four middle tail-feathers patterned 

 after back; others with firmer black bars on motley brown ground, and short white tips. 

 Primaries and longer secondaries bright tawny, with pretty regular black bars, and marbled 

 tips (the half-opened wing viewed fr(Mn below is curiously like that of the Short-eared Owl). 

 X largo firm silky-wliite throat-bar. L^ider parts grounded in blackish-brown, giving way 

 behind through ochrey with dark bars to nearly uniform ochrey. It is impossible in wt>rds t«> 

 give an idea of the artistic blending of the colors in this elegant little Night-jar. The .sexes 

 scarcely difl'er ; specimens before me marked 9 I'ave as j)urely white throat as tlie ^, but tlie 



