FAM. XA'I. GOATSUCKERS 



169 



Key to the Species 



* Rictal bristles very small, I inch or less long ; tail notched at tip ; 



wings with a conspicuous white spot (or tawny in the female of a 

 Texas species). (B.) 



* Rictal bristles, ! inch or more long and branching with short lateral 



hairs ; wing, 7^ or more long 1. Chuck- will's- widow. 



* Rictal bristles long, but not branching.^ (A.) 



A. Tail less than 2 inches shorter than the wing ; no white blotches on 



the wings, which are usually 6 or more long. . .2. Whip-poor-will. 



A. Tail fully 2 inches shorter than the wings ; no white blotches on 



the wings, which are less than 6 long 3. Poor- will. 



A. Tail about as long as the wings ; a large white blotch on the wings, 



which are 6-8 long Merrill's Parauque (3). 



B. Wing over 7^ long 4. Nighthawk and Western Nighthawk. 



B. Wing, 7^ or less long. 5. Texas Nighthawk. Florida Nighthawk (4). 



1. Chuck-will's- widow (416. Antrdstomas caroUnensis). — A 

 large, finely mottled, brownish bird resembling the whip-poor- 

 will, without any pure white 

 markings. The mouth is 

 very large, and the rictal 

 bristles long and with hair- 

 like branches for half their 

 length. The 7nale has an 

 indistinct whitish band 

 across the throat, and the 

 female a buffy one. 



Length, llj ; wing, 8} (8-9) ; 

 tail, ; culmen, |. South Atlan- 

 tic and Gulf States ; breeding from Illinois and North Carolina southward, 

 and wintering from our southern border to Central America. Accidental 

 in Massachusetts. 



2. Whip-poor-will (417. Antrdstomus vociferus). — A bird 

 similar to the last, but smaller ; the vialc is marked with a 



pure white collar, and 

 the end half of each 

 of the three outer tail 

 feathers is white. 

 The female has buff 

 Wliip-poor-wiU ^^ neck and tail 



Chnck-will's-widow 



