374 Mr. E. Hartert on some Species of 



what should be regarded as proper generic characters is, aud 

 always has been, entirely different among ornithologists. 



— Nannochordeiles, gen. nov. 



The little Chordeiles pusillus differs considerably from its 

 larger allies in the form of the wing. In Chordeiles (sensu 

 strictiore) the first primary is longest, the second a little 

 shorter, the third very considerably shorter, and the further 

 decrease great. In Ch. pusillus the first three primaries are 

 of about equal length. This makes the wing much rounder 

 and broader, and, no doubt, the flight of the bird must be 

 very different from that of the long- and pointed-winged 

 larger species. The scapulars reach to, at least, two-thirds 

 of the length of the wing ; the tarsus is quite unfeathered. 

 These characters will, I believe, justify a generic separation 

 of the little Chordeiles. 



In the genus Caprimulgus (including Antrosiomus) I was 

 uot able to make any satisfactory generic groups, because 

 the characters that might have been useful for that purpose 

 are not constant enough. 



In the genus Podargus I had, after much hesitation, united 

 P. cuvieri with P. strigoides, although all the Australian 

 ornithologists had kept them separate, because I found all 

 sorts of intermediate sizes and colours, and because I could 

 not limit them geographically. I had hoped that Australian 

 residents would give their opinions on the subject, or rather 

 their experiences. It must be admitted that the material 

 in the British and other European museums in which I had 

 been able to study, with exact localities, dates, aud sexes 

 determined by competent men, is but scanty, and such 

 localities as "N, S. Wales'*^ and ''Queensland^' are often 

 open to doubt, besides being rather vague. I hope local 

 observers will find my course the right one; at any rate, 

 with the material before me, I could not take any other. 



In spite of my uniting all those forms from Australia, I 

 had lately (Bull. B. 0. U. vol. v. p. x) been obliged to 

 describe a new Podargus from the islands east of New 

 Guinea, which I found to be nearly constant in size and 



