

CAPRIMULGID.E CAPKIMULGUS 31 



roost and breed, so far .. as is known, among rocks; the eggs are 

 white and devoid of gloss. 



Family II. CAPRIMULG-IOE!. 



Bill short, weak and flexible ; gape very wide ; nostrils tubular ; 

 wings long, the second quill usually the longest ; three toes 

 anteriorly directed, the claw of the middle toe usually pectinated 

 on the inside ; fourth or outer claw with only four phalanges ; 

 plumage soft and generally finely mottled. Palate schizognathous ; 

 skull with basipterygoid processes. 



The Nightjars are spread over most of the tropical and 

 temperate regions of the world. 



a. N 



: 



Key of the Genera. 

 a. None of the wing-feathers elongated ; first 



primary shorter than the second Caprimulgus, p. 31 . 



Ninth primary enormously elongated in the 

 breeding male ; first primary longer than the 

 second Cosmetornis, p. 42. 



Genus I. CAPRIMULGUS. 



Type. 

 Caprimulgus, Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. i, p. 346 



(1766) C. europaeus. 



A row of very strong rictal bristles along the edge of the upper 

 mandible ; no feathers of the wing or tail unduly elongated ; wing 

 long and pointed, first primary slightly shorter than the second and 



FIG. 17. Foot of Caprimulgus europceus. 



third, which are the longest ; tail slightly rounded ; tarsus usually 

 feathered to a certain extent in front ; claw of the middle toe 

 strongly toothed along the inner edge ; no powder down patches. 



