228 GOATSUCKERS 



United States from the plains to the Pacific, and to British Columbia west 

 of Cascades ; migrates to northern South America. 



Eggs. Laid on the ground in open situations ; 2, like those of virgin- 

 ianus. 



420c. C. V. sennetti (Coues). SENNETT NIGHTHAWK. 



Similar to henryi, but much paler; top of head brownish instead of 

 blackish ; wing coverts largely whitish ; under parts with dark bars brown 

 instead of black, spaced with white instead of buffy. 



Distribution. Treeless region of the plains, from the Saskatchewan 

 south to Texas. 



421. Chordeiles acutipennis texensis (Lawr.). TEXAN 



NIGHTHAWK. 



Adult male. White throat patch without adjoining black chest patch, 



belly barred with blackish and 

 buffy ; upper parts dull mottled 

 gray, streaked with blackish ; 

 white wing band back of tip of sev- 

 enth quill; space between white 

 band and primary coverts spotted 



Fig. 293. with brown. Adult female: sim- 



ilar, but with white tail band 

 restricted or wanting and wing band buffy. Young : more finely mottled, 

 with less blackish above, less barring beneath, and upper parts often 

 suffused with cinnamon or rusty buff. Length : 8-9, wing 6.60-7.30, tail 

 4.10-4.75. 



Distribution. Breeds in Lower Sonoran zone from Texas to southern 

 California, and from Nevada and Utah south to Cape St. Lucas and Ve- 

 ragua. 



Eggs. Deposited on the bare ground ; 2, clay color to creamy, minutely 

 marbled with dots of grays, browns, and lilac. 

 Food. Partly moths, cicadas, and beetles. 



Mr. Anthony found the Texan nighthawks ' fairly swarming ' at 

 Deming, New Mexico; and in Phoenix and Yuma, Arizona, and in 

 the southwestern parts of Texas, Mr. Bailey found them abundant. 

 They sit in the shade during the day, but at night the air is filled 

 with their 'bubbling cry,' especially about water. At Yuma they 

 would come to the river just after sundown to drink. Hovering 

 close to the water with neck bent down they would take a sip, then 

 fly a little way and repeat it. After drinking they would circle 

 over the water till dark in pursuit of insects. At Owen Lake, Cali- 

 fornia, they were found skimming close to the water in pursuit of a 

 small fly which was swarming on and near the shore. 



Mr. Anthony says they do not indulge in the aerial evolutions of 

 other nighthawks, but fly low, doing much of their hunting within 

 two feet of the ground, jumping up after passing insects much as 

 the poor-wills do. 



On the wing they are easily told from other nighthawks by their 

 brownness and by the position of the wing bar near the tip of the 



