AFRICAN LONG-TAILED NIGHT-JAR. 69 



rounded or even, but in Scotornis it is generally 

 much longer and more graduated than in Capri- 

 mulgm. We therefore conclude, that the bird we 

 are now about to describe is a typical species ; it is 

 one of the most common birds of Senegal, but we 

 know not whether it is found in other parts of 

 Africa. 



Size rather smaller than the long-shafted species, 

 although, from the developement of its tail, it is 

 much longer. The bristles considerably exceed the 

 length of the bill ; the third quill is longest ; the 

 first is rather shorter than the fourth, while the fifth 

 quill is eight-tenths of an inch shorter than the 

 fourth. The tail is very long, measuring from the 

 base nine inches, of which three and a quarter are 

 occasioned by the two middle tail-feathers exceeding 

 the others ; the latter, also, are four inches and three- 

 quarters longer than the outermost pair ; the outer 

 lateral toe is four and one-tenth of an inch shorter 

 than the inner. 



The ground colour of the plumage is of that 

 peculiar light ferruginous brown, which is almost 

 restricted to the African species, varied with the 

 usual dark freckles. The chin and rictal stripe is 

 white ; the lesser wing-covers have a broad band at 

 their tips of white, and the greater have a terminal 

 spot of cream-colour, much smaller than the former. 

 The ground colour of the five primary quills is 

 entirely black, without any rufous, their tips only 

 being freckled with grey; but they are crossed in 

 the middle by a broad band of a snowy whiteness, 



