NORTH AMERICAN XIRDS. 285 



that he frequently heard this bird's mournful cries, poor-will, poor-will, in San 

 Diego county, California, in the month of April. A set of two eggs in his collection, 

 taken near Manhattan, Kansas, May 28, 1885, are pure glossy-white, and measure 

 30x22, 30x22.5 mm, or 1.18x.87 and 1.18x.91 inches. 



418a. FROSTED POOR- WILL. Phal&noptilus nutallii nitidus Brewst. Geog. 

 Dist. Texas to Arizona and north to Western Kansas. 



This lighter-colored and grayer bird than Nuttall's Poor-will was first described 

 by William Brewster in "The Auk" (Vol. IV, 1887, p. 147), from specimens taken on 

 the Nueces River, Texas, February, 1886. Its general habits are identical with those 

 of P. nutalli. Mr. Crandall has a set of eggs of this bird which was taken- by Mr. M. 

 W. Kibbe in Franklin county, Kansas, May 10, 1891. The bird was shot and fully 

 identified. The eggs were laid on the bare ground on the side of a rocky hill. They 

 measure l.lOx.81, 1.09x.80 respectively. These eggs have the peculiar glossy polished 

 appearance usual to eggs of Chuck-will's-widow and Whip-poor-will, and they are 

 of a decidedly creamy white color and not a pure white, entirely unspotted and in 

 shape like the typical egg of a Chuck-will's-widow. 



418&. DUSKY POOR- WILL. Phalcenoptilus nutallii californicus Ridgw. Geog. 

 Dist. Coast of California. 



The range of this dark or dusky race is confined to the coast region of Cali- 

 fornia. Its habits, nesting and eggs are the same as those of the Poor-will. 



419. MERRILL'S PARATJQUE. Nyctidromus albicollis merrilli Senn. Geog. 

 Dist. Valley of the Rio Grande, north to the Nueces River, south into Northeastern 

 Mexico. 



Mr. George B. Sennett named this bird in honor of Dr. James C. Merrill, Assis- 

 tant Surgeon U. S. Army. In the vicinity of Fort Brown, Texas, it was a common 

 summer resident, arriving early in March and remaining as late as the middle of 

 November. It frequents shady thickets and copses, and when flushed dodges rapidly 

 and silently among the bushes, but soon alights. In these places the eggs are de- 

 posited usually at the foot of a bush. Dr. Merrill observes that the habits and eggs 

 of this species, in addition to its anatomical characters, show its affinity with the 

 Whip-poor-wills rather thaa the Nighthawks. Their notes are among the most 

 characteristic night sounds of the lower Rio Grande, and are constantly heard at 

 evening during the summer months. They consist of a repeated whistle, resem- 

 bling the syllables "whew, whew, whew, whew, whe-e-e-e-e-w," much stress being 

 laid upon the last, which is prolonged. The whole is soft and mellow, yet can be 

 heard at a great distance. Mr. Sennett, in the same region in Southern Texas, ob- 

 tained a set of two eggs, April 20. He states that the birds breed in the more open 

 places among the cactus and scattered bushes along with C. texensis Texas Night- 

 hawk. The eggs are two in number, of a rich creamy-buff, sparingly marked with a 

 deeper shade of the same, and with lilac; average size 1.25x.92. Their size and 

 creamy-buff color render them easy of identification. On the 15th of May, Dr. Merrill 

 found a set of eggs of this species near camp at Hidalgo, and on returning in about 

 fifteen minutes to secure the parent, who had disappeared among the thickets, he 

 found that she had removed the eggs, although they had not been touched. The 

 average of size of thirty-six sets (seventy-twO eggs) of this bird in Mr. Crandall'a 

 collection is 1.24x.90; the largest 1.35x.92, the smallest in length 1.14x.92; broadest 

 1.33x.95 inches. These were all collected in various parts of Tamaulipa county, 

 Texas, between April 9 and July 27. 



