260 ANTROSTOMtJS VOCIFERUS— WHIP-POOR-WILL. 



light, and of a dusky, mottled hue. Their eyes are also 

 large. In the aberrent, exotic genus, Podargus^ the resem- 

 blance is still greater, for the bill is as large as that of an 

 owl, with an approximation in form, but the feet are small 

 and weak, like those of the rest of the family. A person 

 unacquainted with ornithology would be apt, upon seeing 

 a Podargus^ to call it an owl, and, from these facts, many 

 naturalists consider this the joining link between the pres- 

 ent order aiid the last. 



The CaprhmilgincB have the mouth opening to beneath 

 the middle of the eye, with the bill depressed and generally 

 feeble, and the horny part small, with the tip of the upper 

 mandible decurved; the eyes extremely large; ear aperture 

 large; head very broad and de^jressed; feet small, with the 

 tarsi partly feathered and scaly, claw of the middle toe 

 elongated and generally pectinated; body slende. ; plumage 

 soft and light; wings long, the second and third quills long- 

 est; tail of ten feathers. 



Ohio contains two species, belonging to diiferent genera 

 — the Whip-Poor- Will, {Antrostomus vociferus^) and the 

 Night H-Awk^ {Chordeihis virginianus.) Both are widely 

 known. Other species are found west and south, but no 

 other has so wide a distribution. 



Genus Antrostomus, Gould. 



Bill remarkably small, with tubular nostri]s,and the gape 

 with long, stiff, sometimes pectinated bristles; wings long, 

 somewhat rounded, second quill longest, the primaries 

 emarginated ; tail rounded ; plumage loose and soft. 



Antrostomus Vociferus, Wilson. — The Whip-Poor-Will. 



Wilson's Amer. Orn., V., pi. 41, figs. 1,2,3; Audubon's 

 B. of Am., Oct. ed., I., pi. 42. 



Throughout Ohio this species is very common, and every 

 person is familiar with its evening song. To some, like 



