NIGHTHAWKS AND WHIP-POOR-WILLS 331 



XVI. ORDER MACROCHII^ES. GOATSUCKERS, SWIFTS, 

 HUMMINGBIRDS, ETC. 



44. FAMILY CAPRIMULGID.E. NIGHTHAWKS, WHIP-POOR-WILLS, ETC. 



(Fig. 55.) 



Goatsuckers are found in most parts of the world, but are more 

 numerously represented in the tropics. Some one hundred species are 

 known, of which about one-half are American, though only six reach 

 North America. Most of the American species are forest-inhabiting, 

 passing the day upon the leaves or perched lengthwise upon the branches 

 of trees, where their dull, blended colors harmonize with their surround- 

 ings. The Nighthawks, however, are equally at home in treeless coun- 

 tries. Nighthawks feed high in the air, like Swifts, while other species 

 frequent the borders of forests or clearings, where they feed nearer the 

 ground. All the species capture their food of insects on the wing, their 

 enormous mouths and the long, stiffened bristles, which in some species 

 beset its base, especially adapting them to this mode of feeding. Many 

 of the species are possessed of remarkable vocal powers, and their 

 cries are among the most striking of bird-notes. They make no nest 

 but lay their two mottled or marbled eggs on the ground. The young 

 are hatched covered with down. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES 



A. A white spot in the wing. 



420. NIGHTHAWK. 420c. FLORIDA NIGHTHAWK., 



B. No white spot in the wing; primaries spotted with rufous. 



a. Wing under 7'50 417. WHIP-POOR-WILL,. 



6. Wing over 7*50 416. CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW. 



416. Antrostomus carolinensis (Gmel.}. CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW. Ad. 

 d". Upperparts streaked with black and finely mottled with ochraceous- 

 buff and black; primaries black, with broken rufous bars; tail mottled with 

 black and ochraceous-buff, the end half of all but the two middle feathers 

 white, more or less washed with buffy on the inner vane; underparts mot- 

 tled with black, ochraceous, and cream-buff; an imperfect whitish band 

 across the upper breast; base of the bill beset with long, stiffened bristles, 

 the basal half of these bristles grown with hairlike branches. Ad. 9 . Similar, 

 but with no white patches in the tail, the upper breast with an ochraceous- 

 buff instead of white band. L., 12'00; W., 8'50; T., 6'00; B., '40. 



Range. Breeds in Austroriparian fauna from Mo., Ind., s. Ohio, and 

 s. Va. s. to cen. Tex., and Gulf States; casual in Kans. and Md., accidental 

 in Mass, and Ont. ; winters from s. Fla. to Greater Antilles and Colombia. 



Washington, one record. Cambridge, A. V., one record, Dec. 



Eggs, 2, laid on the ground or leaves, in woods or thickets, dull white, 

 with delicate, obscure pale lilac markings, and a few distinct brownish gray 

 spots, 1'40 x -98. Date, San Mateo, Fla., Apl. 14. 



Generally speaking, this species resembles the Whip-poor-will in 

 habits. Its notes are quite similar to those of that species, but are 

 louder, less rapidly uttered, and each call has an additional syllable. 

 Its gape is enormous, the wide-open mouth of an adult measuring 



