398 CAPEIMULGID^. 



which it diflFers chiefly, if not only, in its larger size ^. Its northern range hardly passes 

 the limits of our fauna into the frontier States of North America, its southern extending 

 to Panama, but not into the continent of South America. 



C. texensis may readily be distinguished from C. virginianus by its smaller size, more 

 fawn-colour of the abdomen, the greater distance of the white wing-spots from the 

 shoulder, their limitation to four, or at most five, quills, and the rufous markings on 

 the inner primaries. 



In Central America C. texensis is a much more common species than C. virginianus, 

 and its presence has been recorded from many places ranging from the sea-coast at 

 Eealejo to as high as 7000 feet in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala. 



Grayson says ^ that this species is common in Western Mexico, especially in the 

 neighbourhood of Mazatlan and San Bias. He describes the eggs as deposited on 

 withered leaves, without any nest, in some retired spot in the woods. They are 

 of a cream-colour, sometimes two in number, but usually only one. This description 

 does not agree with that given by Brewer, who, on the authority of Dr. Berlandier, says 

 the eggs are like those of C. virginianus, and resemble a piece of polished marble of 

 a dark grey colour by the combination of small irregular confluent black, umber, 

 and purplish-grey spots and blotches. Mr. Eidgway describes them as smaller and 

 usually paler than those of C. virginianus henryi. Mr. Armstrong's Nuevo Leon 

 skins were all obtained in the latter half of May, when no doubt the birds were 

 breeding. 



Subfam. HYCTIBimm. 



The singular birds forming this subfamily diflFer from the Caprimulginse in having 

 the normal number of phalanges to the toes; the claw of the middle toe is not 

 pectinated ; the tarsi are exceedingly short and stout ; the bill peculiarly constructed, 

 the gape very wide, and the body with powder-down patches. 



Nearly all the species are birds of large size, some of them rivalling members of the 

 Australian Podargi, to which they bear some superficial resemblance. 



NYCTIBIUS. 



Nyctibius,Yie\\lot,'N.T)'\ct. d'Hist. N. xvi. p. 6 (1817); Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xvi. 

 p. 623. 



Six species constitute this genus, which is a purely Neotropical one, and spread from 

 the northern confines of the region in Mexico to Southern Brazil. One, K Jamaicensis, 

 the type of Nyctihius, occurs throughout our region, and one of the southern forms, 

 1^. grandis, has been met with in the State of Panama. 



