198 CHOKL EILES P OPETUE. 



FAMILY I. CAPRIMULGID^J. THE NIGHT-JAES. 







Nail of middle toe, pectinated on inner side. Prominent white markings on either wings 

 or tail. 



The sternum is stout and short but wide, with a high, well-rounded keel. The cor- 

 acoids are also short and set on at an angle, while the furcula is somewhat stout and forms 

 a wide, well-arched curve, proclaiming that its owner is capable of performing abrupt and 

 varied aerial evolutions. The terminal expansion is slightly developed. The marginal 

 indentations are so wide as to resemble scollops. Costal process, varied in form as given 

 under generic characters. There is no manubrium nor is the sternum produced forward 

 so as to take its place. 



GENUS I. CHORDEILES. THE NIGHT HAWKS. 



GEN. Cn. Wings, extending beyond the tail when closed, with the first quill longest. Bristles at bate of bill, very small. 

 Tail, forked. Plumage, blended. Costal, process of sternum, approximatinj quite near the coracoids. 



Members of this genus are only partly nocturnal, often flying about during the day but are more active at night, espe- 

 cially at twilight. The larynx is provided with a very largo and thick sterno-trachealis which has its trachcal origin low, 

 quite near the larynx. There is only one other muscle, the posterior division of the bronchc-trachealis. The os transver- 

 sale is represented by a flat bone which does not support any scmilunar membrane, however, but there are short tympani- 

 form membranes. The oesophagus is not dilated in any portion, is lined with a thin layer of mucus, and opens into a some- 

 what wide proventrieulus which is provided with oblong glands that lie obliquely and are arranged in a zonular band. 

 The stomach is rather cubical in form, quite muscular, and lined with a roughly rugous membrane. The short duodenum 

 enbraces the rather large pancreas for its entire length. The spleen is a spherical body, dark in color, and placed on the 

 stomach near the cardiac opening. There are long coeca(measuring 1'30 lapopetue) which are dilated into bottle-shaped 

 bodies at the blind ends. 



CHORDEILES POPETUE. 



Night Hawk. 

 Chordeilespopelue\i^.iiA,., Ois. Am.; 1807, 56. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, robust. Size, large. Sternum, stout, with the keel quite high, then rounds downward to meet the 

 furcula which has a slight terminal expansion. The posterior end of the sternum, between the marginal indentations, is 

 produced backward. Tongue, fleshy, very short, flat and broadly arrow-shaped, provided with papillae, which cover the 

 upper surface. 



COLOR. Adult male. Above, including wing and tail, dark purplish-brown, with the feathers in a line back of the 

 eye extending around the nape, having white centers. The remainder of the feathers are irregularly spotted with yellowish- 

 white which becomes rufous on the scapularies. There is an accumulation of rufous spots in a line passing through the ear 

 coverts around the nape. The wings have a greenish gloss and the secondaries are tipped with whitish. There is a very 

 broad white band extending obliquely across the middle of the four primaries next the outer, encroaching upon the inner 

 webs of the outer as far as the shaft. The tail and its upper coverts are crossed by transverse bands of irregular spots of 

 whitish, and there is a band of white extending across all the feathers, excepting the outer, near the tips. Beneath, 

 white, crossed by numerous transverse bands of dark-brown. There is a crescent-shaped mark of white on the throat be- 

 neath which Is a dark band that is spotted with triangular marks of rufous. The space above the white mark is al>o brown, 

 having the same shaped spots. 



Adult female. Similar to the male, but the markings above are not as clear. The band on the wings is not as extend- 

 ed, and that on the tail is entirely wanting, while the crescent-shaped mark is overwashed with rufous and spotted with 

 brown; the entire under surface is also tinged with it, showing little or no white. 



Young male. Slightly tinged with rufous throughout, the white bands on the wing and tail being much restricted, 

 and the crescent is obscured with rufous. 



Young female. Very strongly tinged with rufous above and below, while the white marking on the wing is often re- 

 stricted to the three upper feathers. 



