19. xycTiBius. 625 



3. Nyctibius jamaicensis. 



Wood-Owl, Sloane, Voy. Jamaica, ii. p. 295. 

 Le Guira-querea, JBuff. Hist. Ned. Ois. vi. p. 536 (1779). 

 Eng-oulevent g-ris, Buff. Hist. Nat. Ois. vi. p. 548 (1779). 

 Caprimulgus jamaicensis et griseus, Gm. Syst. Nat. ii. p. 1029 (1788) ; 



Steph. Gen. Zool. x. p. 144 (1817) ; Vieill. Nouv. Diet. x. p. 238 



(1817) ; Denny, P. Z. S. 1847, p. 38 ; Koenia-Warth. J.f. O. 1868, 



p. 388. 

 Unttau, Azara, Apunt. no. 308 (1802). 

 Caprimulgus cornutus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. x. p. 245 (1817). 

 Nyctibius urutao, Lafr. Mag. de Zool. 1837, pi. Ixxxii. 

 Nyctibius pectoralis, Gould, lean. Av. pt. ii. (1838) ; i?/j. Consj). i. 



p. 58 (1850) ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1860, p. 79; id. Cat. Am. B. p. 278 



(1862) ; E. C. Taylor, Ibis, 1864, p. 90 (Trinidad). 

 Nyctibius jamaicensis, Gosse, B. Jamaica, p. 41, pi. vi. (1847) ; Bp. 



Consp. i. p. .58 (1850) ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1861, p. 77 (Jamaica) ; id. 



Cat. Am. B. p. 278 (1862) ; id. P. Z. S. 1866, p. 129 ; Albrecht, 



J.f. O. 1862, p. 199; March, Pr. Ae. Nat. Sci. Phil. p. 286 



(1863) ; Salvin, Ibis, 1866, p. 194 ; id. Ibis, 1885, p. 438 (B. 



Guiana) ; id. Ibis, 1889, p. 3i)8 (I. Ruatan) ; Gray, Hand-l. i. 



p. 66 (1869) ; Finsch, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 557 (Trinidad) ; Layard, 



Ibi^, 1873, p. 389 ; Scl. S; Salv. Nomencl. Av. Neotrop. p. 95 (1873) ; 



tid. P. Z. S. 1879, p. 531 ; A. ^- E. Neivt. Handh. Jamaica, p. 108 



(1881) ; Tacz. Orn. Perou, i. p. 207 (1884) ; Con/, List B. W. 



Ind. p. 16 (1885) ; id. Auk, iii. p. 338 (1886) ; \d. B. W. Ind. 



p. 133 (1889). 

 Nyctibius pallidus, Gosse, B. Jamaica, p. 49, pi. vii. (var.) (1847) ; 



'Bp. Consp. i. p. 58 (1850) ; Cory, Auk, iii. p. 339 (1886) ; id. B. W. 



Ind. p. 134 (1889). 

 Nyctibius cornutus, Bj}. Consp. i. p. 58 (1850) ; Tschudi, Faun. Per. 



p. 123 (1855) ; Burm. Syst. Ueb. Th. Bras. ii. p. 376 (1856) ; Pelz. 



Orn. Bras. p. 10 (1867) ; Tacz. P. Z. S. 1879, p. 240 (Peru). 



Adult. General colour greyish or brownish, heavily marked with 

 longitudinal streaks and blotches of deep blackish brown, sometimes 

 also with much white ; throat more or less whitish with blackish 

 shafts ; belly and lower tail-coverts similar, but more or less dark 

 and marked with distinct black shaft-lines ; feathers of the breast 

 with a series of deep brown terminal spots ; wings and tail deep 

 brown with pale bands, more developed on the tail. 



There are considerable differences in size. As a rule specimens 

 from Mexico and Central America are the largest, measuring about 

 16 inches in length, wing 12 to 13, tail 9. The specimens from 

 Jamaica are nearly as large, the wing measuring 11-5 to 12 inches, 

 and they no doubt belong to the same form. Going farther to the 

 south, we find that specimens from Colombia are a little smaller, 

 but hardly separable. Still more to the south, in Brazil and Guiana 

 we find them much smaller again, so that specimens from Brazil 

 have the wing only 9'S to 10-8 inches in length. Unless larger 

 series from different localities show that there is no constant dif- 

 ference in examples from the same localities, I would propose to 

 separate the smaller form subspecifically. 



VOL. XVI. 2 s 



