OF NEW ENGLAND. 295 



I. Antrostomus. Bristles very conspicuous ; tail rounded. 

 Birds strictly nocturnal. 



II. % Chordicles. Bristles short ; tail forked ; wings very long. 

 (Fig. 16.) 



I. ANTROSTOMUS 



(A) VOCIFERUS. Whippoorwill. "Night-jar." 

 (A well known summer-resident throughout New England.) 

 (a). About 9 inches long. Tail rounded. Throat-patch, 

 and tips of outer tail-feathers, in $ white, in 9 light brown. 

 Crown, black-streaked. Otherwise indescribably variegated or 

 mottled with several quiet colors. The Chuck-will* s-widow (A. 

 Carolinensis) of the Southern States possesses a very similar 

 coloration, but is a foot long. 



(6). The eggs are laid on the ground in some dry part of 

 the woods, no nest being made, unless a slight hollow be 

 scratched among the fallen leaves. They are elliptical, aver- 

 age 1*25 X '85 of an inch, and are creamy, spotted rather 

 sparsely, chiefly with lilac and lavender. In Massachusetts, 

 two eggs are laid about the first of June. 



(c). The Whippoorwills, wherever known, are well-known, 

 and yet by the common people they are rarely seen. Were it 

 not for their loud and famous notes, they might well be con- 

 sidered by collectors very rare. As it is, they are known to 

 be common at various points throughout New England, as well 

 as other parts of the country ; but their distribution is probably 

 irregular and local. They reach the neighborhood of Boston 

 in the latter part of May, and leave it before or soon after the 

 arrival of autumn. They differ from the Night "Hawks" in 

 habits very distinctly, though, according to Wilson, the two 

 species were once confused even by naturalists. They are 

 strictly nocturnal, unless occasionally active towards the end 

 of a cloudy afternoon. During the day, they retire to some 

 well shaded spot in the woods (or occasionally the "scrub"), 

 and there repose, resting on the ground, or, more often, perched 

 upon a limb. Their feet are so small and weak that they never 

 (?) perch crosswise, but lie along the bough. I have but 



