CAPRIMULGUS. 399 



Sub-Family. CAPRIMULGIN^E. 



Bill small and weak, with bristles at the base ; wings long ; tail rather long ; 

 tarsi short, scaled or plumed ; middle toe longest ; its claw long and serrated. 

 Found in most parts of the world ; all live on insects, which they capture on 

 the wing. 



Gen. Caprimulgus. Lin. 



General characters as in the sub-family. Bill very short, flexible and broad 

 at base, compressed and bent at the tip ; rictal bristles strong and numerous. 



973. Caprimulgus asiaticus, Lath., ind. Om. iii. p. 588 ; 



Jerd., B. Ind. \. p. 197, No. 112; Hume, Nests and Eggs p. 97; id., Sir. F. 

 iii. p. 46; Blyth, B. Br. Burm. p. 46; Hume and Dav., Str. F. v. p. 59; 

 Lcgge, B. Ceylon, p. 343; Brooks, Str. F. vii. p. 169; Hume, Str. F. 

 viii. p. 85 ; Murray, Hdbk., Zoo!., Sfc., Smd, p. 126; id., Vert. Zool. Sind', 

 p. 1 06 ; Bingham, Str. F. ix. p. 150; Oates, B. Br. Burm. ii. p. 17. The 

 COMMON INDIAN NIGHT-JAR. 



Plumage remarkably soft and lax, pale rufescent ashy ; the feathers finely 

 pencilled and mottled with dusky ; top of head with narrow longitudinal 

 blackish streaks ; neck with a white spot ; collar rufescent ; wing coverts and 

 scapulars edged with buffy or tawny ; quills with a white spot on- each of the 

 first four feathers, and mottled at the tip, the exterior feathers with a large 

 white patch near the tips of the inner webs ; a central patch of white on the 

 throat. Lower parts and tail irregularly barred and mottled lightly ; the tail, 

 in the male, with white spots on the outer tail feathers; tarsi bare. 



Length. 9 inches; extent 18 to i8*; wing 5*5 to 6; tail 4'5. 



Hab. Very widely spread in India and Ceylon, Occurs in Sind, the 

 Concan and Deccan, Kutch, Kattiawar, and North Guzerat; recorded also 

 from Upper Pegu and Amherst. Breeds wherever it is found, ascending 

 the lower ranges of the Himalayas to the height of 5,000 or 6,000 feet in 

 spring and summer. May is the month in which they breed, but eggs have" 

 also been taken in April, Eggs, two in number, long, cylindrical ovals, of a 

 pinkish stone colour, blotched, clouded, spotted and streaked with different 

 shades of pale reddish and purplish brown. Average size 1*04 X 0*77. 

 The eggs are laid in a depression on the ground. 



974. Caprimulgus mahrattensis (Sykes), Jerd. in. bid. Om. 



p. 24 pi. ; Gould, B. Asia ; Jerd., i. p. 197, No. 113 ; Hume, Str. F. i. 167 ; 

 iii. pp. 206, 381, 455 5 iv - PP. 2 54> 5i ; vii. p. 181; viii. p. 372; ix. p. 381.; 

 Murray, Hdbk., Zool., fyc., Sind,+ p. 1 27. SYKES' NIGHT-JAR. 



General colour pale sandy-grey, variegated with pencillings of dusky and 



ferruginous ; head very sparingly streaked and spotted ; breast with a white 



spot ; wing coverts, scapulars and tertiaries with buffy spots ; primaries 



with a white spot on the outer webs of the three exterior feathers, mottled 



VOL. II. 52 



