684 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 54. 



tongue. The postero-lateral spines are elongated as slender, pointed 

 processes, and there are six or seven small backward-projecting 

 papillae on the upper surface of the tongue near the base. The 

 hyoidean muscles in this species are very slight in development. 



No alcoholic specimen of Antrostomus caroliTiensis is at hand, but 

 the tongue in this species (also described by William MacGillivray ^) 

 is said to be " very small, * * * attenuated, tapering, flat above, 

 covered with papillae, of which there is a large one at the base on 

 each side; the tip is narrow, but rather obtuse." No drawing show- 

 ing the tongue is given, but from the description quoted it is evident 

 that it resembles in general type the tongues of Phalaenoptilus^ Cap- 

 rimulgus^ and Setochalcis. 



The tongue of Ghordeiles virginianus, while similar to that of 

 other Caprimulgidae, shows a slightly different development. This 

 organ in the nighthawk (fig. 7) is small in comparison to the size 

 of the mouth opening, but is strong and heavy. It measures approxi- 

 mately 9 mm. long by 4.7 mm. broad at the base, so that it is short 

 and broad in comparison with the lingual appendages 

 of other genera in this family that have been described. 

 This difference was noted by MacGillivray^ in his 

 dissections of birds made for Audubon. In outline 

 the tongue of Ghordeiles virginianus is triangular, 

 / \ with the lateral margins slightly concave. The pos- 



FiG. 7.— Tongue tero-lateral angles are produced as curved spinose proc- 

 oF Ghordeiles esses, and the line of the base is incised at the center. 

 (x2!^cat^no! '^^^ lateral margins of the tongue are armed with 

 225265, U.S. spinosc papillae, which are small and weak anteriorly 

 and become strong and heavy toward the base. 

 Stronger processes arm the posterior margin, and the broadened 

 basal third of the tongue has its dorsal surface covered with pointed, 

 harsh papillosites, all directed toward the pharynx. The hyoidian 

 muscles are fairly strong and well developed. 



In Ghordeiles acutipennis the tongue resembles that described in 

 G. virgini-anus but is smaller, measuring only 7.5 mm. long by 4.5 

 mm. broad at the base. The postero-lateral spines are somewhat 

 longer so that the posterior margin appears more deeply incised. 

 The lateral outlines and the arrangement and size of the spines are 

 practically the same as in the larger nighthawk. The tongue is these 

 birds, though small, appears so much stronger than in the other 

 Caprimulgidae and is so heavily armed with papillae that it must 

 be supposed that it plays an important role in the swallowing of food. 

 Certainly the development of spines is so striking that the tongue in 

 this genus can not be considered rudimentary or f unctionless. 



1 Audubon, J. J., Ornithological Biography, Edinburgh, 1839, vol. 5, pp. 402-403. 



2 Idem, p. 407. 



