40 PASSERES. CAPRIMULGID^. 



Of one which I dissected, shot in its evening ca- 

 reer, the stomach was stuffed with an amazing num- 

 ber of insects, almost (if not quite) wholly con- 

 sisting of small beetles of the genus Bostrichus : 

 there were probably not fewer than two hundred of 

 these beetles, all of one species, about a quarter of 

 an inch long. 



The primaries, which are long and narrow, have a 

 peculiar downy surface, like the nap of cloth, ex- 

 tending down the inner vanes, and covering the 

 outer two-thirds of their breadth ; this is visible 

 only on the upper surface. It does not exist in 

 our Nyctibius. 



There is in my possession, presented to me by 

 Mr. Hill with many other interesting objects, an 

 egg of much beauty, which, when brought to him, 

 was reported to be that of a Caprimulgus. It 

 certainly belongs to this family, but not, as I think, 

 to this species, judging from Wilson's description. 

 Its dimensions are 1 /q- inch, by -^q, of a very regular 

 oval, polished, and delicately and minutely marbled 

 with white, pale blue grey, and faint olive. 



