( 31 ) 



FAMILY CAPRIMULGENiE, 



GOAT SUCKERS. 



GENUS CAPRIMULGUS— LINN, 



GOAT SUCKER. 



[Bill extremely short, feeble, opening beyond the eyes, much depressed — ■ 

 somewhat hooked at tip ; head very broad ; eyes large ; body slender ; wings 

 long pointed ; tail of ten feathers, long and rounded ; tarsus partly feathered ; 

 feet very small.] 



•CAPRIMULGUS VOCIFERUS— WILSON. 



WHIP-POOR-WILL. 



Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus, Wils. Amer. Orn. 

 Caprimulgus vociferus, Bonap. Syn. 

 Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus, Aud. Orn. Biog. 

 Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus, Nutt. Man. 



Specific Character — A band on the fore neck and wings white, 

 which color predominates on four of the tail feathers. Adult with 

 the upper parts dark brownish gray, streaked and barred with 

 black ; lower parts lighter and more distinctly barred ; wings spot- 

 ted and barred with light brownish red, on the outer four primaries, 

 a white band towards the ends ; a broad white band on the fore 

 neck ; tail much longer and broader than that of the Night Hawk, 

 the four middle feathers of the same color as the back — the larger 

 portion of the next two white, the outer feather black, with a portion 

 of the inner web white. Length nine inches and a half, wing six 

 and a half. Female with the plumage duller. 



The Whip-poor-will, so called from the resemblance of its notes 

 to those syllables, is quite common to Long Island. By many it is 

 considered identical with the preceding species, to which it bears 

 some resemblance. It is seldom seen abroad by day, that part of its 

 time is passed in the deep and shady parts of the woods in silence 

 and repose. At night, when roaming about in quest of food, it ut- 

 ters its well known and melancholy cry. 



