120 NIGHTJAR. 
the nape of the neck; chin and_ throat, mottled with two large 
white oval spots, which nearly converge together down the 
middle, and dull yellowish orange and black, the latter extending 
backwards round the neck = a sort of collar; breast, pale 
yellow brown, with numerous bars of darker brown and orange; 
back, a mixture of orange, yellow, brown, and grey, beautifully 
pencilled with rich dark brown, the shafts margined as on 
the head. 
The wings expand to the width of about one foot nine 
inches; greater and lesser wing coverts, mottled as the back; 
primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, dark brown, spotted with 
yellowish brown; the three first feathers have a well-defined 
oblong patch of white on the inner web, near the tip; the 
first is shorter than the third, the second a little longer than 
the third, and the longest in the wing. The tail, of ten 
feathers, has the middle ones freckled with grey and yellowish 
brown, with seven or eight dark zigzag transverse bands; the 
two outer feathers are dark brown, barred with yellowish 
brown on both webs, and the ends pure white; the legs, which 
are partly feathered in front, the toes, whick are euial in 
proportion to the size of the Pads and the hinder one rever- 
sible, and the claws, dark orange brown; the middle claw is 
flattened on the inner edge, and the margin is_pectinated, 
forming a sort of comb of seven or eight teeth: these teeth 
point forwards, and not backwards, which is against the general 
supposition that they are intended for holding the insects the 
better. Here, as in so many other instances, we are still in 
the dark. The toes are connected by a membrane as far as 
the first joint. 
The plumage of the female is more subdued and blended! 
darker, with less of the grey and ferruginous, and the white 
markings have a tinge of yellow. The wings want the white 
spots; the two outer feathers of the tail are withous the white 
at the ends. 
In the young the tail does not attain its full length before 
the first moult. They are at first covered with grey down, 
darker above and paler beneath. 
