86 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
Dr. Exton also sent us an egg taken from the abdomen of a female 
shot by him, and he writes :—“I can give no assistance in the col- 
lecting of eggs. To the native mind there is something tangible in 
a young bird—all sorts of fledglings have been brought to me, 
Hawks, Owls, Hornbills, &e.—but the enquiry for eggs is generally 
looked upon as a mild form of lunacy, partly it may be arising from 
eggs (even those of poultry) not being admissible as food for men, 
and only under exceptional circumstances for women and children.” 
The habits of this bird seem exactly to resemble those of the 
common Nightjar, like which species, says Mr. Buckley, “ it has a 
jarring note, and is fond of settling in the paths: it roosts on the 
ground during the day.” The eggs, according to the same gentle- 
man, are pink, mottled all over with greyish brown. Canon Tristram 
describes the egg as of a rich cream-colour, with faint fawn-coloured 
cloudings all over it. This latter egg was sent by Mr. Ayres, who 
found it “laid on the bare ground, without the slightest pretence to 
a nest.” 
C. rufigenis is like a miniature C. europeus, being smaller, and 
having the under wing-coverts nearly uniform. Total length, 9°5 
inches; wing, 6°35. our primaries are always spotted with white, 
and sometimes traces are apparent on the jifth. 
Fig. Smith, Ill. Zool. 8. Afr. pl. 100. 
81. Carrmuneus rervinus, Sharpe. Fiery-necked Nightjar. 
This new species, four specimens of which are in the British 
Museum, was obtained by the late Mr. Andersson in Damara Land, 
and has hitherto been confounded with C. rufigena. It is, however, 
to be distinguished from this species by the characters mentioned 
below, and, unless Mr. Andersson has erred in the sexing of the 
specimens, it differs from the above mentioned bird in haying the 
characteristic white spots present in both sexes. Two females were 
procured by him at Elephant Vley on the 5th and 28th of October, 
1859, another female at Otjoro on the 50th of November, while the 
fourth was shot near Ovampo Land on the 2nd of February in the 
same year. 
This is the species identified by Messrs. Strickland and Sclater as 
C. pectoralis (Contr. Orn. 1852, p. 148) and is likewise the C. pec- 
toralis of Mr, Andersson’s work (p. 49). He writes concerning it: 
