— 135 — 



Disttngnishing c/iaracters. — Grever and rather lighter than 

 brachxpterns though not so liglit in under-parts as par vus par vu s. 

 Size usuallv larger. 



A third race inhabits Madagascar and the Conioro Islands i. e. 



4. — Tachynantes parvus gracilis. 



Cypselus gracilis Sharpe, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1871, p. 315 : 

 Madagascar. 



Range. — Madagascar and Conioro Islands. 



Distinguishing characters. — Sooty coloured, verv mnch darker 

 than anv of the inainhmd forms. 



(Not verv plentifnl, a few seen near the Bungalow at Iju but 

 ahvavs verv high up. The Lagos birds were noticeably darker than 

 those I shot at Dakar and Rathurst. — W. P. L.) 



Family CAPRIMULGIDAE. 



Caprimulgus inornatus. 



Capriniulgus inornatus Heuglin, Orn. N.-(). Afr., I, i86q, 

 p. 129. — Tvpe localitv : Bogosland. 



A spécimen of the Plain Nightjar was shot at the Iju vvater- 

 works near Lagos bv Mr. Lowe in December 19 19. This exaniple 

 is identical with i'apiiinulgus cinnainonieus Sharpe {Ibis, 1871, 

 p. 414) which was described from Lagos — the type being in the 

 British Muséum. C cimiaviomeus is a bird in the red phase of 

 plumage and as mentioned in the (\italogue of Birds of the British 

 Muséum, vol. XVI, p. 557, is an extremelv rufous spécimen. 

 Examples almost as red turn up now and again in Somaliland and 

 in other parts of the range of C inornatus so that it seems reaso- 

 nable to suppose that it is but a rufous phase exhibited bv that 

 species and does not constitute a distinct form. In the wing mar- 

 kings and in other respects, size, etc., C. inornatus and C. cinna- 

 inoineus are inséparable. 



