CHIMNEY SWIFT. 385 



The eggs of the Nighthawk, like those of the Whippoorwill, are placed 

 on the ground, with this distinction, that the Nighthawk seeks no shel- 

 ter, but selects an open field or bare rock. No nest is constructed. The 

 eggs are two, grayish, thickly mottled with varied tints of darker gray. 

 They measure about 1.30 by .90. 



FAMILY CYPSELID^. SWIFTS. 



Feet neither syndaotyle nor zygodaot,y le, scarcely or not semipalmate, of frequently 

 abnormal ratio of phalanges (middle or outer toe, or both, with fewer joints than usual 

 among birds). Hind toe very small, elevated, frequently lateral or versatile. Middle toe 

 not produced nor its claw pectinate. Bill much as in Caprimulgidw, but rictus unbristled. 

 Small. Plumage compact, of few simple subdued colors. 



Sub-family Ch.s;tuein.s!. Spine-tailed Swifts. 



Hind toe scarcely versatile. Tarsus covered with naked skin. Tail feathers stiffened 

 and mucronate by the projection of their shafts. 



Genus CHJETUEA. Stephens. 



First primary longest ; tail very short, about two-fifths the wing, slightly rounded. 

 Tarsus longer than middle toe; lateral toes equal, nearly as long as the middle ; hind 

 toe and claw less than the middle toe without the claw. 



CH.ffiTUBA PELAGicA (L.) Baird. 



Cliimney STvift« 



EXrundo pelasgia, Wilson, Am. Orn., v. 1812, 48. 



Cypaelua pelasgius, Kirtlakd, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 163. 



Chcetura pelasgia, Nottall, Man., i, 1840, 736. — Bead, Proo. Phila. Acad. Nat. Soi., vi, 

 1853, 395.— KiBKPATRiCK, Ohio Farmer, ix, 1860, 203.— Wheaton, Ohio Agric. Kep. 

 for 1860, 1861, 362 ; Reprint, 4 ; in Coues' Birds of N. W., 1874, 234 ; Food of Birds, 

 etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 1875, 569 ; Reprint, 9. — Langdon, Cat. Birds of Gin., 

 1877, 11. 



Chcetura pelagica, Langdon, Revised List, Journ. Gin. Soo. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 178 ; Re- 

 print, 12 ; Summer Birds, ill, 1880, 225. 



Chimney Swift, Ballou, Field and Forest, iii, 1878, 136. 



Birundo pelagica, Linn.bus, Syst. Nat., i, 1758, 192. 



Hirundo pelasgia, LiiCN.au8, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 345. 



Cypselua pelasgius, Bonaparte, Syn., 1828, 63. 



Chmtura pelasgia, Stephens, Shaw's Gen'l, Zool., xiii, 1825, 76. 



Chmtura pelagica, Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, N. A. Birds, ii, 1874, 432. 



Sooty-brown with faint greenish gloss above, below paler, becoming gray on the 

 throat ; wings black. Length, about 5 ; wing the same ; tail, 2 or less. 



To the above description of Dr. Coues', which is sufficient for purposes of identification, 

 it may be added that the feathers of the crown are so short as to resemble scales, and 

 form a projecting arch or cornice over the eyes. The eye-lids and a small circnmorbital 

 space are naked and purplish. A broad line of soft thick-set velvety feathers extends 



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