384 CAPEIMULGID^. 



Birds, ii. p. 410'; Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1879, p. 531 '; Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi, 

 p. 375"; Ridgway, Man. N. Am. Birds, p. 298". 



Supra saturate nigricans, fulvo minute irroratus ; capita summo et dorso striis elongatis nigris ornatis, scapu- 

 laribus quoque nigro striatis et maculis fulvis notatis, torque cervicali plumis medialiter paUide cervinis 

 composita ; alis nigricautibus, maculis irregularibus rufis in pogonio externo subrotundatis, in pogonio 

 interno transversim elongatis, nigro interruptis : subtus quoque ftdvo irroratus et fasciatus, gula regulariter 

 nigro transfasciata, torque cervicali isabeUino plumis singulis nigro terminatis, pectore sparsim nigro 

 sagittate, typochondriis isabellino guttatis, tectricibus subcaudalibus fulvis nigro transfasciatis ; cauda 

 supra nigro et fulvo irrorata, rectricibus duabus mediis nigro indistincte sed regulariter transfasciatis, 

 rectricibus utrinque tribus externis in pogonio interno (rhaohide inclusa) plaga magna, fere ad apicem 

 extensa, supra nivea, infra fulva notatis. Setis rictalibus filamentis lateralibus instructis. Long, tota 

 circa 12-0, alae 8*5, caudse 5-5, tarsi 0'8, dig. med. cum ungue 1*1. (Descr. maris ex Costa Ii.ica. Mus> 

 nostr.) 



5 mari simUis, maculis magnis caudaUbus absentibus. 



Eab. North America, Atlantic and Gulf States ^^. — Mexico, Nuevo Leon (F. B. 

 Armstrong^), Sierra de Santo Domingo in Tehuantepec {W. B. Bichardson^). 

 — Guatemala, Duenas {0. S. & F. B. G.^); Nicaragua, San Juan del Sur 

 {Nutting i") ; Costa Eica (Endres ^), Guadelupe (v. Frantzius ''), Las Cruces de 

 Candelaria {Zeledon ^'^); Panama, Volcan de Chiriqui {Arc6 ^). — Colombia ^ ; 

 Antilles ^. 



This Goatsucker is the oldest known of its kind in North America. Though not fully 

 recognized as distinct from Caprimulgus europoeus by Linnaeus it figures in Catesby's 

 work, and now passes under Gmelin's title of Caj^frimulgus carolinensis *. 



The South Atlantic and Gulf States and the Lower Mississippi Valley are the 

 summer residence of this species, its northern extension reaching, according to 

 Mr. Eidgway ^^, to North Carolina and Southern Illinois. Its migration southward 

 commences in August ^, and in the winter months it has been traced to several of the 

 West Indian Islands, to Mexico and Central America, and as far south as Northern 

 Colombia. The return journey northwards begins in March ^. The eggs are laid 

 on the bare ground amongst leaves in the darker thickets of the woods. As usual in 

 this family, two is the full complement of eggs ; their shape is oval, the ground- 

 colour white, and they are more or less spotted with blotches of various sizes of dark 

 purplish-brown, mixed with grayish-lavender, with occasional marks of raw-umber 

 brown ^. 



In Mexico and Central America C. carolinensis is apparently by no means common 

 as but few specimens have reached us. This is probably due to its nocturnal habits 

 and the silence maintained during the winter season. 



* "We have no doubt Catesby (Car. i. t. 8) intended to give an accurate figure of his Carolina Goatsucker, 

 but it may be remarked that he represents the wing with large white spots as ia Ohordeiles virginianus, a 

 feature not possessed by any Korth-Amerioan species of Gaprimulgus ! Moreover, Latham, Brisson, and Grmelin 

 all refer to these white spots ; but Pennant (Arct. Zool. i. p. 133. no. 336), though referring to Catesby, gives. 

 an accurate description of the bird we now call G. carolinensis, omitting aU mention of the white wing-spots. 



