1. CAPRIMULGTJS. 521 



/". No elongated feathers on the occi- 

 put ; wing more rounded 14. Eurostopus, p. GO". 



g'. Tail emarginate, outer pair of rec- 

 trices longest. 

 g". First primary longer than second . 15. Chordkiles, p. 609. 

 h" . First primary shorter than second. 16. Nyctiprogne, p. 619. 

 d. Tail about half as long as the wing or 

 shorter. 

 /«'. Tarsus longer than middle toe with- 

 out claw, entirely bare ; abdomen 



white 17. PoDAGER, p. 619. 



i'. Tarsus shorter than middle toe with- 

 out claw, partly feathered in front ; 

 abdomen rufous 18. Lurocalis, p. 021. 



1. CAPRIMULGUS. ^ 



Type. 



Caprimulgus, Linn. Si/st. Nat. ed. x. p. 193 (1758). . C. europseus. 



Nyctichelidon, Heimie, Mont. Orn. Did. p. .335 (1831) C. europffius. 

 Antrostomus, Nutt. Man. Ornith. U. S. ed. ii. p. 739 



(1840) C. carolinensis. 



The rictus of all the species of this genus is beset Avith strong 

 bristles, which in some are extremely long. The wing is rather long 

 and pointed, first primary generally much shorter than second and 

 third, which are longest ; the tail more or less rounded ; the tarsus 

 more or less feathered in front or almost bare. The sexes are easily 

 distinguishable in most of the species, the male having white patches 

 ou the primaries and outer rectrices, which are absent in the female. 

 In several species, however, there is no marked difference between the 

 sexes. The first plumage after the downy stage is mostly more or 

 less similar to that of the adult female, but in several species the 

 markings of the sexes, when adult, are already present in the first 

 plumage. The American species cannot be separated gencrically. 



llange. The same as that of the family. 



Key to the Species *. 



A. Both webs of primaries entirely uniform in 



colour. 



a. Wing more than 6 inches in length concretus, p. 576. 



h. Wing less than 6 inches in leiigtli nigrescens $ , p. 572. 



B. Inner webs of primaries uniform, outer webs 



spotted. 



c. Clearly defined bull" crescent round the hind 



neck, round black spots on the crown .... enarratus, p. 577. 



d. Without distinct buff crescent round the 



hind neck. [p. 567. 



a . Tail more than 6 inches in length sericeoccaidattis, 



b'. Tail less than 5 inches in length. 



a". Top of the head distinctly spotted with 

 rufous ; abdomen barred. 



«'". Tail without white markings binotatus, p. 576. 



b'". Large white tips to the rectrices, 



increasing in size to the middle. . . . saturatm, p. 572. 



* C. pukhellus (see p. 579) seems to be somewhat similar to C. concretus, but 

 lias a white patch on the primaries. I have not seen this species. 



