162 LIFE HISTORIES OF NOETH AMEEICAF BIRDS. 



"I have never found the Parauque nesting in the dense thickets, where they 

 hide during the winter. They seek the more open ground, the high, level spots 

 near the river, or uj) some arroya, among scattering bushes and pear cactus, but 

 never on the rocky hills, where the Texan Nighthawk is frequently found. In 

 one instance a nest was found at the edge of a cultivated field. The eggs are 

 placed on the bare ground, with no attempt at nest building, and usually at the 

 foot of a clump of bushes. The bird, Avhen flushed from the nest, quietly darts 

 off and drops to the ground but a short distance away. 



"During the winter and spring (1894) I found the Parauque to be fairly 

 common along the lower course of the Niieces River, but I do not think that it 

 is to be found much farther east, and I know that a little farther north its place 

 is taken by the Chuck-will's-widow. Here, as on the Rio Grande, I found it 

 resident throughout the year, and although it breeds there, I was not successful 

 in finding any nests." 



The food of Merrill's Parauque, like that of the rest of the CaprimulgidtB, 

 consists mainly of night-flying insects, such as moths, beetles, etc. The crop of 

 a specimen shot by Mr. H. P. Attwater, near Rockport, Texas, was filled with 

 fireflies, Photinus pyralisf. In the lower Rio Grande Valley fresh eggs are 

 occasionally taken in the second week in April, but the breeding season is not 

 at its height before May and lasts well into June. The earliest breeding record 

 I have is April 14; the latest, June 27; in both cases the eggs were fresh. It is 

 probable that two broods are, at least occasionally, raised in a season. 



The eggs of Merrill's Parauque approach an elliptical ovate more than an 

 elliptical oval, one end being always more perceptibly pointed than the other. 

 The shell is close-grained, rather thin, and either without gloss or only moder- 

 ately glossy. Their ground color varies from cream and vinaceous buff to a 

 rich salmon buff, and this is more or less abundantly spotted and splashed Avith 

 buffy pink, ecru drab, pale lavender, and more rarely with deeper shades of 

 cinnamon rufous. In an occasional specimen the markings are mainly confined 

 to the larger end, but in the majority they are pretty evenl}^ scattered over the 

 entire surface of the e^s,. A few are but slightly marked, and unless carefully 

 examined might pass for immaculate. They are handsome eggs, and do not 

 resemble any others of the Caprimulgidce found in the United States. 



The average measurement of forty-one specimens in the United States 

 National Museum collection, mostly from the Ralph collection, is 31.24 by 

 22.66 millimetres, or about 1.23 by 0.89 inches. The largest egg of the series 

 measures 33.27 by 24.13 miUimetres, or 1.31 by 0.95 inches; the smallest, 27.18 

 by 20.57 millimetres, or 1.07 by 0.81 inches. 



Of the type specimens. No. 25289 (PI. 2, Fig. 1), from a set of two eggs, 

 Ralph collection, taken on May 16, 1892, represents one of the better marked 

 examples, while No. 26335 (PL 2, Fig. 2), also from a set of two and from the 

 same collection, taken on April 16, 1893, represents one of the lighter-marked 

 types of this species. Both were obtained in Cameron County, Texas. 



