THE NIGHTJAR 



plumage greyish white and buff, charmingly vermiculated 

 with darker grey and black, and barred and spotted, espe- 

 cially on the crown and under parts ; the sides of the neck 

 and the cheeks are marked with a white spot ; the two 

 outside tail-feathers are broadly tipped with white, and 

 there is a large white spot near the centre of the first 

 three primaries. Bill brownish black ; tarsi and toes 

 brown ; irides brown. Length ioi inches. The female 

 closely resembles the male in general colour, but the white 

 patches on the wings and the white tips to the tail-feathers 

 are absent, whilst the spots on the neck and cheeks are pale 

 buff. The nestling is without the white spots on the wings 

 and tail, the former being marked with chestnut-buff 

 bar-like spots on the inner webs, and spots of the same 

 colour on the outer margin of the outer web. The tail is 

 barred with light and dark brown ; the smaller wing- 

 coverts are nearly black, mottled with rusty brown. The 

 claw of the middle toe is curiously serrated or toothed, 

 not only in the adults, but in the young. 



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