i8o6 



THE PICARIAN BIRDS 



found nearly all over the world, inhabiting both Hemispheres, but never going very 

 far north, and the only locality where they appear to be wanting is in some of the 

 Eastern Pacific islands. Of the two European species, the common nightjar shown 

 in the upper figure of cut on p. 1805, is a migrant from Africa, wintering in the 

 Cape, and passing south apparently by the Nile valley and East Africa, as it has 

 not yet been recorded from the west coast. It visits Europe in summer, and breeds 

 throughout the greater portion of the continent, reaching to the latitude of Arch- 

 angel, and to about 63 north latitude in Scandinavia. The plumage is of a dark, 

 ashy-gray color, closely vermiculated with black; the scapulars are longitudinally 

 streaked with black and ochreous buff; quills with a rufous-buff spot on both webs, 

 the three outer primaries with a large white spot on the inner web; two outer tail 



VIRGINIAN NIGHTJAR. 

 (Three-fifths natural size.) 



feathers also with a large white spot at the end of the inner web; under surface 

 ochreous buff, with blackish bars on the abdomen and the under wing and tail 

 coverts; the breast marked like the upper surface of the body, and the throat black- 

 ish, narrowly barred with rufous buff, and spotted with white. The total length is 

 ten and one-half inches. The red-necked nightjar (C. ruficollis) is a larger bird, 

 measuring twelve inches in length. It has large white spots on the quills and outer 

 tail feathers, but differs in having the hind-neck rufous, forming a broad collar, 

 which has gained the species its familiar name of red necked. It inhabits the coun- 

 tries of Southwestern Europe and Northern Africa, nesting in Spain, Algeria, and 

 Morocco; migrating occasionally into Southern France; and it has even reached 

 Great Britain on one occasion, but its winter quarters are unknown. The food of 

 the nightjar consists entirely of insects, in pursuit of which 1 the bird may be seen 



