Herr E. Hartert on the Capri mulgidse. 279 



C. e, plumipes, as a specimen from Cliami in Mr. Seebohm's 

 collection somewhat points to the latter. More material is 

 wanted in order to determine the areas of the several forms 

 of Caprimulgus in Central and Northern Asia. 



(2) Caprimulgus lkntiginosus. Smith. 



When I wrote the ' Catalogue of the Birds in the Sencken- 

 berg Museum at Frankfort/ I believed Caprimulgus tri- 

 stignia, RUpp,, to be a distinct species, and expressed my 

 opinion to that effect in a footnote on page 120. But I had 

 no specimen of the South-African C. lentiginosus to compare 

 with it at the time, and judged only from the descriptions of the 

 latter. After comparing Riippell's type with the specimens of 

 C. lentiginosits h'om. South Africa in the British Museum, there 

 can be no doubt that they are identical. The wings of the 

 specimens in the British Museum vary from 7*2 to 7'Q inches, 

 that of the type of Riippell's C. tristigma measures 7*5 inches. 

 The Avhite spots on the primaries vary in size, and sometimes 

 disappear on the third primary. Some specimens have large 

 white spots on the outer rectrices, others are without them, 

 the latter probably being the females. 



(3) Caprimulgus eximius, (Plate VI.) 



Plate VI. represents one of the most beautiful species 

 of the genus Caprimulgusi, the rare and very little known 

 C. exindus. The figure is taken from a typical specimen in 

 the Frankfort Museum. Three specimens were brought home 

 by the earliest ornithological explorer of Abyssinia, Riippell. 

 The species has been described and very badly figured in 

 Temminck's * Planches Coloriees.' There, and in Riippell's 

 * Systematische Uebersicht,* Sennaar is given as its habitat. 

 Absolutely nothing is known about the exact locality and the 

 habits of this sjDCcies. Herr Erckel, Riippell's collector durinsf 

 his second voyage, has kindly informed me that the specimens 

 were killed in 1823 or 1824- by Hey, RuppelTs collector 

 during his first voyage, probably near the Bahr el Abiad, 

 in Upper Nubia. There can be no doubt that this is a bird 

 which inhabits desert or desert-like countries, for its colour 

 is a beautiful adaptation to the yellow sands of the desert. 



