3 ? 6 CHOKL EILES P OPETUE. 



FAMILY I. CAPRTMULGIDiE. THE NIGIIT-JARS. 



Nail of middle toe, pectinated on inner side. Prominent vhite markings on either wings 

 or tail. 



The sternum is stout iiml short liut wide, with a high, well-rouudcd keel. The cor- 

 acoids are also short and set on at an angle, while the furcala is somewhat stout and forms 

 a wide, well-arched curve, proclaiming that its owner v.i capable of performing abrupt and 

 varied aerial evolutions. The terminal expansion is slightly developed. The marginal 

 indentations are so wide as to resemble scollops. Costal process, varied in form as given 

 under generic characters. There is no manubrium nor is the sternum produced forward 

 so as to take its place. 



GENUS I. CHORDEILES. THE NIGHT HAWKS. 



<3en. Cn. Wings, extending beyond the tail when closed, with thcfirst quill longest. Bristles at base of bill, very small. 

 Tail, forked. Plumage, blended. Costal process of sternum, approximating quite near the coracoids. 



Memliers of this genus are only partly nocturnal, often flying about during the day but are more active at night, espe- 

 cially at twilight. The larynx is provided with a very large and thick sterno-traohealis which has its tracheal origin low,, 

 quite near the larynx. There is only one other muscle, the posterior division of tlie brunchc-trachealis. The os traasver- 

 salo is represented by a flat bone which does not support any semilunar membrane, however, but there are short tympani- 

 form mcmljranes. The oesophagus is not dilated in any portion, is lined with a thin layer of mucus, and opens into a some- 

 what wide proventriculus which is provided with oblong glands that lis oljliquely and are arranged in a zonular band. 

 The stomach is rather cul^ical in form, quite muscular, and lined with aroughly rugous membrane. The sliort duodenum 

 cnbraces the rather large pancrea,s for its entire length. The spleen is a s))herical body, dark in color, and placed on tlie 

 stomach near the cardiac opening. Tlierc are long oooca( measuring 1'30 m popetue) which are dilated into bottle-sluiped 

 bodies at the lilind ends. 



CHORDEILES POPETUE. 



Night Hawk. 

 Chordeiles poprluc Vieiu.., Ois. Am.; 1807, 56. 



DESCllIPTION. 



Sp. Cn. Form, robust. Size, large. Sternum, stout, with the keel quite high, then rounds downward to meet the 

 fiircula which has a slight terminal expansion. T!ie posterior end of the sternum, between the marginal indentations, is 

 produced backward. Tongue, fleshy, very short, flat and broadly arrow-shaped, provided with papillaa, which cover the 

 upper surface. 



Color. Adult male. Above, including wing and tail, dark purplish-brown, with the feathers in a line back of the 

 eye extending around the nape, having white centers. The remainder of the feathers are irregularly spotted with yellowish- 

 white which liecomes rufous on the scapularies. There is an accumulation of ruf jus spots in a line jjassing through the ear 

 coverts around the nape. The wings have a greenish gloss and the secondaries are tipped with whitish. There is a very 

 broad white band extending obliquely across the middle of the four primaries next the outer, encroaching ujion the inner 

 webs of the outer as far as the shaft. The tail and its upper coverts are crossed by transvei-se bands of irregular spots oi 

 whitish, and there is a band of white extending across all the feathers, excepting the outer, near tlie tips. Beneath, 

 white, crossed by numerous transverse bands of dar* i .own. There is a crescent-shaped mark of white on the tlu'oat be- 

 neath which is a dark band that is spotted wit!) uiangular marks of rufous. The space above the white mark Ls also In-own, 

 having the same shaped spots. 



Adult female. Similar to the male, but the markings above are not as clear The liand on the wings is not as extend- 

 ed, and that on the tail is entirely wanting, while the rrescent-shajied mark is overwashcd with rufous and spotted with 

 brown; the entire under surface is also tinged with it, showing little or no white. 



Young male. Slightly tinged with rufous throughout, the wliite band-: on the wing and tail being much restricted, 

 and the crescent is obscured with rufous. 



Young female. Very strongly tinged with rufous above and below, while the white marking on the wing is often re- 

 stricted to the three upper feathei-s. 



