300 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Genus N.YCTIDROMUS Gould. (Page 297, pi. LXXXYIIL, fig. 2.) 



Species. 



Adult male : Above finely mottled brownish gray or brownish, the crown with 

 a central series of broad black streaks, the scapulars handsomely variegated with 

 black and buff in large, somewhat V-shaped, markings ; base of six outer primaries 

 white, forming a large patch over both webs, the rest of the quills plain dusky ; 

 outer tail-feathers nearly uniform blackish ; next mostly white, with outer web 

 chiefly dusky ; third also mostly white, the outer web edged with dusky ; four 

 middle tail-feathers without any white, their ground-color mottled brownish gray, 

 relieved by irregular " herring-bone" blotches of dusky along the shaft; lower parts 

 buffy, regularly barred with dusky, the throat crossed by a distinct collar of pure 

 white ; length 12.00-13.50, wing 6.75-7.50, tail 6.75-7.40. Adult female : Similar to 

 the male, but smaller, more brownish, the colors duller and less handsomely con- 

 trasted, the white of quills and tail-feathers more restricted, that of former occu- 

 pying only four outer quills, of latter occupying only terminal portion (for .75- 

 1.75) of the inner webs of second and third feathers, the blackish basal portion of 

 which is broadly, though more or less irregularly, barred and mottled with ochra- 

 ceous; length about 10.50-11.50, wing 6.00-6.30, tail 5.80-6.00. Young: Much 

 paler than adult, the lower parts nearly immaculate pale dull buffy, the wing- 

 coverts and tertials with this color prevailing ; dark markings on top of head in 

 form of somewhat triangular, drop-shaped, or diamond-shaped spots, each imme- 

 diately surrounded by a paler tint than the general surface ; sexes distinguished as 

 in adult stages. Eggs deposited on ground or dead leaves in woods or thickets, 

 1.16 X -84, deep pinkish buff, or salmon-buff, sparsely speckled or spotted with rusty 

 or cinnamon. Sab. Whole of tropical America (except West Indies), north to 

 lower Eio Grande Valley in Texas 419. N. albicollis (Gmel.). Parauque. 



Genus CHORDEILES Swainson. (Page 297, pi. LXXXV1L, fig. 2.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Above mottled with blackish and grayish (sometimes 

 varied, more or less, with ochraceous), the tail more or less distinctly banded with 

 dusky ; quills chiefly plain dusky, several of the longer ones marked near the 

 middle portion with a more or less extensive white or buffy spot; lower parts 

 whitish or buffy, barred with dusky, the throat with a more or less conspicuous 

 A-shaped white or buffy patch ; adult males with a broad bar of white across tail 

 near tip (except on middle feathers). Young: Much more finely and profusely 

 mottled than in adults, with less of dusky above and dusky bars on lower parts less 

 distinct ; upper parts often more or less suffused or mixed (especially in C. texensis 

 and G. virginianus henryi) with pale cinnamon or rusty buff. 



a 1 . White or (rarely) buffy spot or patch on quills situated mainly or wholly 

 anterior to tip of seventh quill, the space between this white patch and the 



