THE BIRDS OF MESOPOTAMIA, 41] 
141. Common Nightjar. Caprimulgus europzus. 
1. Caprimulgus europeus unwini, Hume (Ibis, 1871, p. 406—Hazara, 
N. W. India). 
2. Caprimulgus europeus sarudnyi, Hart. (Vig. Pal. F., p. 849, 1912 
Tarbagatai Mountains). 
These two races are passage migrants through Mesopotamia in fair numbers. 
The spring passage takes place in the last week of April and the first part of May, 
and the return passage during September ; latest record October 4th. Cumming 
says it occurs from autumn to spring at Fao. Zarudny records europeus as 
wintering, and wnwini as wintering and a passage migrant. 
We have no winter records of any Nightjar. 
unwint probably breeds in the Jebel Hamrin, as Cheesman obtained one at 
Khanikin on May 21st, with organs well advanced. Unlike wgyptius this species 
often roosts on date-palm stems and seems to prefer an arboreal seat to the 
ground, 
(1) @&,Khanikin, 21-5-19 (P. Z. C. and R. E.C.); Shat-al-Adhaim, 4-10-17 
(C. R. P.). 
These and one from Fao in the British Museum are nearer wnwini than any 
other race, but do not seem quite typical, nor is one which Witherby got in 
Persia, nor one from Shiraz ; but apparently wnwint varies much even in N. W. 
India. If one had a larger series from Persia perhaps another race could be 
recognized. The Adhaim bird is a young bird and matches well a young one 
from N. W. India. 
(2) @, Shaiba, 8-9-16 (P. Z. C. and R. E. C.); ¢, Amara, 24-4-18 (P. A B.); 
9. Fao, 7-4-18 (Armstrong). 
I cannot separate these from birds from Krasnoyarsk, etc., they certainly are 
not unwini, they are much darker and much more coarsely marked. 
142. Egyptian Nightjar. Caprimulgus egyptius. 
Caprimulgus cegyptius egyplius, Licht. (Verz. Doubl. Mus. Berlin, p. 
59, 1823—Upper Egypt.) 
This Nightjar is a common summer visitor and a numerous passage migrant. 
The earliest record is March 20th and most come quite early in April and settle 
to breed in many places throughout the area ; it is particularly common in the 
Feluja- Baghdad-Museyib district. 
Nests may be found in a variety of mainiONS: as on shingle near the river at 
Samara, coarse grazing land, bare desert, in scrub under bushes, etc. The earli- 
est nest recorded was on April 12th and two more on the 14th (Feluja district), 
though Tomlinson says at Basra they do not breed till the end of May. Fresh 
eggs are recorded on June 3rd and incubated ones on the 28th. Two is of course 
the invariable number. When nesting on grazing land many eggs are trodden 
on by cattle. 
It becomes exceedingly plentiful in August and September when probably the 
local birds are reinforced by migrants from elsewhere, though it seems to be 
particularly patchy in distribution, one place holding numbers while in other 
similar localities none are seen ; thus Buxton knew of a small walled garden at 
Amara about half an acre in extent where he could always find a dozen or so 
and never saw them elsewhere ; Pitman too found hundreds roosting on a cettain 
patch of stony ground at Akkarkuf, while Magrath relates how in riding across 
some old fallow land the birds were so numerous that it looked as if the clods 
of earth were getting up and flying away! At Ali Gharbi Cheesman saw numbers 
flying aimlessly about slowly and not feeding at 4-30 p.m. on August 8th, and 
he fancies the ground had got too uncomfortably hot for them with a shade tempe- 
rature of 120°. In the day time they are found roosting on the ground in palm 
groves. The night call is described by Pitman as being like rapid hammering 
- on wood “ toc-toc-toc-toc.” 
