CAPRIMULGID^ — THE GOATSUCKERS. 413 



nocturnal insects, for swallowing which their mputlis are admirably adapted, 

 opening with a prodigious expansion, and assisted by numerous long bristles, 

 which prevent the escape of an insect once within their enclosure. In a 

 single instance the remains of a small bird are said to have been found within 

 the stomach of one of this species. 



The inner side of each middle claw of the Ckuck-wilV s Widovj is deeply 

 pectinated. The apparent use of this appendage, as in the other species in 

 which it is found, appears to be as an aid in adjusting the plumage, and 

 perhaps to assist in removing vermin. 



The eggs of this bird are never more than two in number. They are 

 oval in shape, large for the size of the bird, and alike at either end. Their 

 ground-color is a clear crystal white. They are more or less spotted, and 

 marked over their entire surface with blotches of varying size, of a dark 

 purplis]i-l)rown, and cloudings of a grayish-lavender color, with smaller oc- 

 casional markings of a light raw-umber brown. In shape and markings 

 they very closely resemble those of the Whippoorwill, differing chiefly in 

 their much larger size. They measure 1.44 inches in length by 1.06 in 

 breadth. 



AntrostoniTis vociferus, Bonap. 



WHIPPOORWILL. 



Caprmmlgus vociferus, Wilson, Am. Orn. V, 1812, 71, pi. xli, f. 1, 2, 3. — Aud. Om. 

 Biog. I, 1832, 443 ; V, 405, pi. Ixxxv. — Ib. Birds Am. I, 1840, 155, pi. xlii. — Max. 

 Cab. J. VI, 1858, 98. Antrostomus vociferus, Bonap. List, 1838. — Cassin, J. A. N. 

 So. II, 1852, 122. — Ib. 111. I, 1855, 236. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 148. — 

 Samuels, 119. — Allen, B. Fla. 300. Caprimulgus virginiamis, Vieill. Ois. Am. 

 Sept. I, 1807, 55, pi. xxv. "Caprimulgus clamator, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. X, 1817, 

 234" (Cassin). Caprimtclgics vociferans, Warthausen, Cab. J. 1868, 369 (nesting). 



Sp. Char. Bristles without lateral filaments. Wing about 6.50 inches long. Top of 

 the head ashy-brown, longitudinally streaked with black. Terminal half of the tail- 

 feathers (except the four central) dirty white on both outer and inner webs. Length, 

 •10.00 ; wing, 6.50. Female without white on the tail. 



Hab. Eastern United States to the Plains ; south to Guatemala (Tehuantepec, Orizaba, 

 Guatemala). Coban (Salv. Ibis, II, 275). 



In this species the bristles at the base of the bill, though stiff and long, 

 are without the lateral filaments of the Chuck-will's Widow. The wings are 

 rather short ; the second quill longest ; the first intermediate between the 

 third and fourth. The tail is rounded ; the outer feathei'S about half an 

 inch shorter than the middle ones. 



The colors of this species are very difficult to describe, altliough there is 

 quite a similarity to those of A. carolinensis, from which its greatly inferior 

 size will at once distinguish it. The top of the liead is an ashy gray, finely 

 mottled, with a broad median stripe of black ; all the feathers with a narrow 

 stripe of the same along their centres. The back and rump are somewhat 



