270 CAPRIMULGID.1-:. 



THE EGYPTIAN NIGHTJAR. 



Caprimulous .t:GVPTius, Lichtenstein. 



On June 23rd 1883 a gamekeeper in the employ of Mr. J. 

 Whitaker. of Rainworth Lodge, near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, 

 shot a Nightjar, the light colour of which attracted his attention ; 

 and on his mentioning the fact to his master, who takes a special 

 interest in albinisms and pale varieties, the bird, which had mean- 

 while undergone very rough treatment and then been thrown aside, 

 was submitted to competent authorities. It proved to be an exam- 

 ple of the Egyptian or Isabelline Nightjar (Zool. 1883, p. 374). 



The occurrence of this south-eastern species in Europe is not 

 unprecedented ; Seebohm having discovered in Heligoland a 

 specimen (now in the Gatke collection) which was shot on 

 June 22nd 1875, and had been passed over as a pale variety 

 of the Common Nightjar. Subsequently Professor Giglioli recog- 

 nized in the Museum of the University of Malta, three examples 

 obtained in 1876 ; while in Sicily a bird, which was probably an 

 Egyptian Nightjar, was shot at Girgenti, and an undoubted speci- 

 men was obtained at Modica in 1879. The breeding-places of this 

 species are the sandy parts of Trans-Caspia, Turkestan, Baluchistan, 

 Egypt, Nubia and Tunisia ; to which Dr. A. Koenig has recently 

 added the district of Biskra, in Eastern Algeria. The winter- 

 quarters of this species appear to be still further south. 



An egg, taken near Biskra on April 14th 1892, is figured by Dr. 

 Kcenig in the Journal fiir Ornithologie for 1896, pi. vi. fig. 2. It 

 measures 1-22 by -86 in. and is greyish-white, with faint lavender 

 mottlings. ^'on Heuglin says that 2 eggs form the complement, and 

 are placed in a depression in the sand or under a low shrub. The 

 old bird sits very closely and rises unwillingly, often running with 

 puffed-out throat from one bush to another, uttering meanwhile a 

 curious note. Captain Shelley found flocks in Egypt in spring and 

 autumn, and it would appear that the sexes separate on migration. 



The plumage of the adult is sandy-grey finely marked with black, 

 the pattern being generally the same as in the Common Nightjar ; 

 there are, however, no white spots on the upper surface of the tail 

 or wings, but the inside webs of the primaries are pure white. 

 Length io'5 in. ; wing 8"i in. 



For the reasons mentioned on the preceding page, I have not 

 considered it expedient to give a wood-cut of this species ; it is well 

 figured in Mr. Dresser's ' Birds of Europe,' vol. iv. pi. 262. 



