8 



BTJLLETIN 86, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Podager, though the latter is aberrant. The salient reliable differ- 

 ential characters of the two families here most concerned are in part 

 well shown on plates 1 and 2, accompanying the present paper, and 

 are also all given in the tabular exposition below : 



Cliaiacters. 



Palate 



Vomer 



MazOlo-palatiaes. . 

 Falatioes 



Antero-lntemal proces- 

 ses of palatines. 

 FiemaxiUary 



Brainoase 



Flontals 



Gallbladder 



Blctal bristles.... 

 Included genera.. 



Gaprlmulgidae. 



Scluzognathous ' 



Broad 



Strap-like, book-like, or shoe-shaped. . 

 Medially narrow, with lateral outline 



much constricted. 

 Widely separated fcom maxillo-pala- 



tines. 

 Long; 49 per cent of total length of 



skull. 



Low 



Medially convex 



Present 



Present' 



Systettma Eidgway 



Sienopais Cassin 



ATitiurm Eidgway 



Nycti-polus Eidgway 



Setochalcis Oberholser ' 



Setopagis Eidgway 



Phalaenoptilus Eidgway 



Nyctagrms Nelson 



Otophanes Brewster 



Nyctiphrynus Bonaparte ^ 



ATUrostomus Bonaparte 



Nyctidromus Gould 



Siplumorha Sclater 



Caprirrmlgm Linnaeus 



Eleothreptus Gray 



CosmetomU Gray 



Macrodipteryx Swainson 



Scotornis Swainson 



Hyiropsalis Wagler 



Macropsalia Sclater. 



Lyncmnii Gould » 



MuTostopodus Gould > 



Chordeilidae. 



Desmognathous. 



Narrow. 



Subtriangular. 



Medially broad, with lateral outline 



little constricted. 

 Eeaching to mazillo-palattaes. 



Short; 37 per cent of total length of 



skull. 

 High. 



Medi^y concave. 

 Wanting. 

 Wanting. 



Chordeiles Swainson. 

 Nannoeliordeiles Hartert. 

 Nyctiprogne Bonaparte. 

 Lurocalia Cassin.* 

 Podager Wagler.« 



'By some authors, as, for instance, Beddard and Parker, the Caprimulgidae are considered sohlzognathous, 

 although by Huzley originaUy placed in the aegithognathous series. It is, of course, true that they are not 

 typlcaUy schizognathous, having some aegithognathous characters; but it is also evident that, all things 

 considered, they are much nearer the schizognathous than to the aegithognathous type. 



' Except in the genera Lyncomis and EwroaUtpodut. 



• Provisionally included. 



* See p. 11. 



» Nyctiphrynus Bonaparte (Eivista Contemporanea, vol. 9, February, 1857, p. 215 [p. 9 of reprint]) con- 

 tained originaUy three species: Caprimulgus ocellatus Tschudl (type of Ftilonycterua Eidgway 1912)- 

 Caprimulgusnumiii Audubon (type of Phalaenoptilus Eidgway, 1880); and Caprimulgwi guianemis 

 Gmelin (= Caprirrmlgm albicottia GmeUn) (type of Nyctidromm Gould, 1838). The first species was thus 

 last made type ofanew genus; and this genus JVycijpir!/»«» was restricted by Gray (Hand-List Gen. and 

 Spec. Birds, vol. 1, 1869, p. 59) to the same bird, Caprimulgus ocdUUus Tsohudi. I, therefore, now desig- 

 nate Caprimulgus ocelUUua Tschudi as the type of NycUphryma Bonaparte, and Ptilmycterm Eidgway 

 consequently becomes its synonym. 



