180 CAPRIMULGIDH, GOATSUCKERS.—GEN. 114. 
of the family. The eggs are colorless in the first and third of these, colored in 
the second and fourth. 
Subjamily CAPRIMULGINE. True Goatsuckers. 
Sternum singly notched on each side behind, its body not square. Outer toe 
4-jointed; middle claw pectinate; hind toe very short, elevated, semi-lateral ; 
anterior toes movably webbed at base; tarsus very short, commonly much 
feathered. Besides the semipalmation of the feet, there is another curious analogy 
to wading birds; for the young are downy at birth, as in Precoces, instead of 
naked, as is the rule among Altrices. The plumage is soft and lax, much as in the 
owls; the birds have the same noiseless flight, as well as, in many cases, nocturnal 
or crepuscular habits ; and they sometimes bear an odd resemblance to owls in their 
general appearance. An evident design of the capacious mouth, 
is the capture of insects; the active birds quarter the air with wide | 
open mouth, and their minute prey is readily taken in. But they 
also secure larger insects in other ways; and to this end the rictus 
is frequently strongly bristled, as in the Tyrannide. Our two genera Ay \ 
are readily discriminated by the enormous rictal bristles, rounded tail JY. ] y) 
and comparatively short wings of Antrostomus, the slight bristles, f f 1) 
forked tail and long pointed wings of Chordeiles; they each repre- ) v 
sent one of the two sections of the subfamily. In both, the feet are 
so extremely short that the birds cannot perch in the usual way, but Le ; 
sit lengthwise on a large branch, or crouch on the ground. They Fic. 115. Bones of 
lay two lengthened, dark colored, thickly spotted eggs, on or near Dadian nsan | 
the ground, in stumps, etc.; the sexes are distinguishable but nearly alike; the 
colors are subdued, blended and variegated ; the voice is peculiar. Migratory. 
114. Genus ANTROSTOMUS Gould. 
* The rictal bristles with lateral filaments. 
Chuck-will’s-widow. Singularly variegated with black, white, brown, 
tawny and rufous, the prevailing tone fulvous; a whitish throat-bar ; 
several lateral tail feathers tipped with white in the g, with rufous in the 
g. Large; a foot long; wing 8-9; tail 53-64, slightly rounded. South 
Atlantic and Gulf States, strictly; resident in Florida. Wuts., vi, 95, 
. pls 545 fs 2) Nome G2. Asem 
151, pl. 41; Bp., 147. cAROLINENSIS. 
** The rictal bristles simple. 
Whippoorwill. Night-jar. Upper 
parts variegated with gray, black, 
whitish and tawny; black streaks 
sharp on the head and back, the 
EG LS a een Oa colors elsewhere delicately marbled, 
including the four median tail feathers; prevailing tone gray; wings and 
their coverts with bars of rufous spots; lateral tail feathers black, with 
tawny marbling in distant broken bars, and tipped with white (g) or 
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