202 WHIPPOORWILL. 



these forrays. The Night Hawks migrate about the first of September, when hundreds 

 may be seen, toward the close of day, flying in detached flocks. They keep at a considera- 

 ble elevation until after sunset, when they descend near the ground to feed as they go. I 

 have never seen this species in Florida during winter or even in November but found them 

 abundant, as already described, after the first of April and they are common through the 

 summer. 



GENUS II. ANTROSTOMUS. THE WIIIPPOORWILLS. 



GEN. Cn. Winys, not extending beyond the tail when closed, with the second or third quill longest. Bristles at Dane of 

 bill, very long. Tail, rounded. Plumaye, soft and owl-like. The costal process of sternum does not approach the cora- 

 coids but sends a s/mr upward at right angles with them. 



Members of this genus are entirely nocturnal in habit, never, voluntarily, flying during daylight. The sterno-trache- 

 alis is very large and thick, and has its origin low, as in the preceding genus. There is a very weak broncho-trachealis 

 posticus, and also a singular muscle which passes completely around the trachea, above the origin of the other muscles, and 

 is fastened to the lower extremities of the furcula; other portions of larynx, similar to those given in the preceding genus. 

 The oesophagus is larger near the mouth than elsewhere. The other characters are as described in Chordeiles, excepting 

 the coeca which is proportionately longer, measuring T40 in vociferus. 



AUTKOSTOMUS VOCIPERTJS. 



Whippoorwill. 

 Antrostomus vociferus BON. List; 1838. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, somewhat robust. Size, not large. Sternum, not stout. Tongue, long, smooth, thin and somewhat 

 fleshy. The hyoid bones curve upward back of the skull. The bristles of the bill are without lateral filaments . 



COLOR. Adult male. General color above, daik-brown, but this is obscured by spots, tippings, and edgings of ashy 

 and rufous. The top of the head is ashy-brown, streaked with dark-brown. There are drop-shaped spots of rufous on the 

 wing coverts, forming a bar. The wings are dark-brown barred on both webs with spots of bright rufous. The tail is also 

 brown, marked with ashy and rufous which appear in small spots and form bars. The thrae outer pairs of feathers are 

 broadly tipped with white which shows a yellowish tinge below. Beneath , dark-brown witli the feathers tipped and spotted 

 with yellowish-rufous which nearly covers the flanks and under tail and wing coverts. There is a band of white on the 

 throat beneath which is an indistinct one of rufous. 



Adult female. Quite similar to the male, but lacks the white markings on the outer tail feathers; the entire tail is, 

 however, excepting the central pair of feathers, tipped with yellowish, and the white band on the throat is replaced by one 

 of yellowish. 



Young. The colors above and below are much more rufous, showing but little of the ashy of the adult. In the male, 

 the white of the tail is as in the adult, but the dark-brown of the outer webs of the outer feathers encroaches upon it, and 

 all the foathers are tipped with a buffy-yellow. 



Nestlings. Judging from two specimens which I now have, and one that was kindly loaned to me by Mr. August 

 Koch, which are assuming the second plumage, the nestlingsare covered with a dark down tipped with yellowish, butit is 

 quite probable that this species, like the preceding, undergoes several changes between birth and the plumage of the speci- 

 mens which I have. Bill, black and feet, brown in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



These birds are extremely variable in markings, some being much darker than others. The spots on the wing coverts 

 are not always present, and in many specimens the scapularies are marked with a rich dark-brown, while there is consider- 

 able difference in the markings below, yet there will be no difficulty in recognizing the species by the colors as described. 

 It will be well to to keep in mind that the Whippoorwill has no white spots on the wings and that the tail is conspicuously 

 marked with white; just the reverse of the markings on those parts in the Night Hawk. Known from the following bird 

 as described under the head of observations in the succeeding pages. Distributed during summer throughout the Eastern 

 section of North America from the Carolinas to Canada. Winters in Florida and the West Indies. 



