LAND BIRDS. 373 
Order XVI. MACROCHIRES. Goatsuckers, Swifts and Hummingbirds. 
KEY TO FAMILIES. 
A. Nail of middle toe pectinate (with a comb) on inner edge. Family 47. 
Caprimulgide. Whippoorwills and Nighthawks. 
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AA. Nail of middle toe not pectinate. B, BB. 
B. Each tail-feather tipped with a sharp spine (Fig. 
92). Family 48. Micropodide. Swifts. 
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BB. Tail-feathers not spine-tipped; birds of very 
small size, less than four inches long; plumage 
more or less metallic. Family 49. Trochilide. 
Hummingbirds. Page 
Family 47. CAPRIMULGIDA%. Whippoorwills and Nighthawks. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
A. A conspicuous white patch in the middle of the wing (on several pri- 
maries). Nighthawk. No. 174. 
AA. No white patch on the wing. Whippoorwill. No. 173. 
173. Whippoorwill. Antrostomus vociferus vociferus (Wilson). (417) 
Synonyms: Caprimulgus vociferus, Wils.—Capr. virginianus, Vieill. 
Plate XX XVIII. 
The diminutive bill and immense mouth, taken in connection with the 
very small feet and the pectinate middle claw, are distinctive marks of the 
goatsuckers; in addition a conspicuous pure white patch in the wing marks 
the Nighthawk, and the absence of such a spot indicates the Whippoorwill. 
Distribution.—Eastern United States to the Plains, and from latitude 
50° southward to Guatemala. nied 
In Michigan the Whippoorwill is universally distributed, and although 
nowhere abundant may be found in almost every section, except possibly 
in regions where the woodland has been entirely removed, or in the most 
populous districts immediately about the larger cities. In many places 
where it was formerly common it is now reported as seldom heard, but it 
is probable that it has not entirely disappeared from any of these sections. 
It is not a particularly wary bird and even seems to prefer the vicinity of 
dwellings, frequenting the open pastures and fields in farming districts 
and seeming to have a special preference for sandy roads bordered by low 
nd bushes. 
ae one of the later birds to arrive from the south, although it reaches 
southern Michigan almost always in April and even the northern part of 
