36 CAPRIMULGID^ CAPEIMULGUS 



on a road or footpath. Its food consists of insects. Mr. Marshall 

 found in the stomach of one examined by him fourteen examples 

 of the coprophilous beetle, Ontliophagus gazella P. ; it appears to 

 be a resident, though Andersson states that it is partially migratory 

 in Damaraland, being commoner in the rainy season. Eggs of this 

 species have been found by Ayres near Potchefstroom in October, 

 and described ; by Buckley in Matabeleland ; by Jackson near 

 Beaufort West and by Eriksson on the Limpopo in October and 

 November ; they are laid on the bare ground without any pretence 

 even of a nest and almost without any noticeable depression, and 

 are two in number ; they are of a rich cream or pale pink ground, 

 blotched and clouded with purple and greyish-brown, and measure 

 1-0 X 0-75. 



394. Caprimulgus fervidus. Fiery-neched Nightjar. 



Caprimulgus pectoralis {nee Cuv.), StricM. and Scl. Contr. Orn. 1852, 

 p. 143 ; Gurney in Andersson' s B. Damaraland, p. 45 (1872). 



Caprimulgus fervidus, Sliarpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 86 (1875) ; 

 Hartert, Cat. B. M. xvi, p. 534 (1892) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 106 

 (1896) ; Hartert, Tierreich, Podarg. p. 59 (1897) ; Woodward Bros. 

 Natal B. p. 85 (1899). 



Description. Male. — Closely resembling C. rufigena, but distin. 

 guished by its pure golden-buff cheeks (unstreaked with black and 

 rufous as is the case in the C. rufigena) ; a rich, deep red, broad 

 collar crosses the nape of the neck, and the white spots on the four 

 outer primaries are very much smaller than in the other species. 

 Size similar to C. rufixjena. Sexes, so far as is known, alike in 

 colour, the female having the white spots on the primaries and 

 white tips to the outer rectrices. 



Distribution. — The type of this species, described by Sharps, 

 is from Ovampoland, and there are other examples from the same 

 country in the British Museum. A Nightjar from Barberton in the 

 South African Museum seems referable to this species, and it is 

 further recorded from Eshowe in Zululand (Woodward) and the 

 Umlazi Eiver in Natal (Brit. Mus.). Beyond our limits it was 

 obtained by Bohm at Kakoma in German East Africa. 



Habits. — Andersson, the only observer of the habits of this 

 species, stated that it is tolerably common in Damaraland, that 

 it is found singly and is partial to open roads and paths about dusk. 



