THE NIGHTJARS 



1805 



is of the Passerine (tegithognathous) type, and the third toe has a comb-like append- 

 age to the claw, similar to that of the herons and barn owls. The group may be 

 divided into the two subfamilies Caprimulgintt and NyctibUna, of which the latter 

 contains only the single genus Nyctibius, while the former comprises upward of 

 eighteen genera, with ninety-five species. 



COMMON AND RED-NECKED NIGHTJARS. 

 (Two-fifths natural size. ) 



In common with the rest of their kind, the true nightjars have the 

 S broad beak thickly beset with strong bristles of considerable length; 

 while they are specially distinguished by the difference in the sexes; the males hav- 

 ing a large patch of white on the quills and at the end of the tail feathers, which are 

 either absent altogether in the females, or are replaced by rufous ones. The nest- 

 lings are thickly covered with down, and form an exception to the general rule of 

 young Picarian birds, which are naked when hatched. To this genus belong most 

 of the species of nightjars including the British Caprimulgus europ&us. They are 



