Goatsuckers. 



Order, Machrochires. 

 Family, Caprimulgidac. 



Family characteristics: They fly mostly at eventide and alight 

 upon their perches lengthwise. They have dull gray or brown plumage 

 and lay their eggs upon the ground without making a nest. Their feet 

 are poorly developed. 



420c. NIGHTHAWK. (Bull-bat.) Chordeiles virginianus, sennetti. 

 About the robin's length but less plump. Wings longer than tail. Dull 

 black and white mottling abovie, almost a drab. Breast lighter color. 

 White rings on wings noticeable in flight. Utters its note in flight. 

 White patch on throat. Lays two grayish mottled eggs on the ground, 

 often at the ledge of a flat rock. Great insect-eater. Often seen in 

 companies. 



416. WHIPPOORWILL. ( Chuck-Will's-Wido w. ) Antrostomus 

 carolinensis. Nearly as long as a robin, it resemebles a nighthawk but 

 has brown mottling instead of gray and is without the white rings on 

 its wings. Throat almost black, outer tail feathers white at extrem- 

 ities. To most people it is only a voice 'at eventide, it is so rarely 

 seen. Its only song is "Whippoorwill", "Whippoorwill". Lays two 

 mottled eggs on the dry leaves in the woods. Feeds on locusts and in- 

 sects generally. Sings "Whippoorwill" until late in the evening. 



NIGHTHAWK. 



A relative of the chimney-swift, this is no hawk at all and he 

 seldom flies by night. Neither is he entitled to the names "goat- 

 sucker" and "bull bat" for he is never guilty of the implication of 

 the former name and he is not a bat at all for the bat is not a bird 

 but a member of the monkey family. That such a number of im- 

 proper names "hang 'round him still" shows how many guesses 

 masquerade as truth. Like the swift he is a wide-mouthed insect- 

 eater and a boon to man. 



Watch him as he alternately mounts and floats into the upper 

 air, for "Heaven is not reached at a single bound", and when he 

 has passed almost from your view, you will see him drop like a fall- 



