168 KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



of these birds will be seen in the early morning, flying out 

 from the chimney top, and starting on their day's work of 

 ridding the air of flying insects. In the evening all will be 

 found returning, a steady stream, into the same roosting place. 

 AVhen resting on the inner wall of the chimney, the spiny tail 

 is used as a support, much as the woodpeckers use their tails 

 against the bark of tree trunks. (Chimney Swallow.) 



Length, 5 ; wing, 5 ; tail, 2 ; culmen, J. Nortii America from tlie 

 Plains eastward ; breeding from Virginia to Labrador, and wintering 

 south of the United States in Mexico. The White-throated Swift (425 

 Aeronautes melanoleiicns) of the western United States from southern 

 Montana to the Pacific is a blackish-baoked, swallow-like bird, with a 

 short, stiff, but not spiny-tipped tail, and most of the lower parts white ; 

 the male has the tail deeply notched. Length, 6| ; wing, 6 ; tail, 2J. 



FAMILY XXL GOATSUCKERS, ETC. (CAPRIMljLGIDiE). 



A family (nearly 100 species) of large, dull, mottled gray 

 and brown, loose-plumaged, insect-eating birds which have 

 enormous mouths, though the culmen or upper ridge of the 

 bill is remarkably short.^ Their heads are pecul- 



^5, (gi iarly large, broad, and flat, the legs small and weak, 

 and the wings are rather long and pointed. They 

 capture their prey while on the wing and, excepting 

 during migrations, are solitary in their habits. The chuck- 

 will's-widow has the widest mouth of any of our species ; the 

 gape measuring two inches from side to side. This enables it 

 to swallow the largest of insects, and even hummingbirds and 

 small sparrows have been found in its stomach. The night- 

 hawks lack the rictal bristles which are so conspicuous in the 

 other birds of the family. Our species are practically noc- 

 turnal birds, as silent in their flight as owls. During the day 

 they recline rather than perch on limb of tree, or ground, in 

 such position as to be entirely unnoticed, except by the most 

 experienced observer. No nests are built or even hollows made, 

 but the eggs are laid on the bare ground or on tree stumps. 

 Their cries are among the most peculiar and striking of bird notes 

 and from them many of the species derive their common names. 



