GOATSUCKERS, SWIFTS, ETC. 



(418) Phalaenoptilus nuttalli 



nuttalli 



{Audubon) (Gr., a moth, feather — re- 

 ferring to the soft and peculiar plumage). 



POOR-WILL. A smaU species, 

 the d' of which is shown by the 

 upper bird. The 9 differs only in 

 having narrow buffy tips in place of 

 broad white ones on the outer tail 

 feathers. L., 7.50; W., 5.50; T., 3.40. 

 Eggs — Two, pure white, unmarked. 



Range — Western North America; 

 east to S. Dak. and Texas. 



(419) Nyctidromus albicollis 



merrilli Sennett. 



(Gr., night courser; Lat., white neck). 



MERRILL'S PARAQUE. cf 

 shown by the lower bird. Notice 

 that the two outer tail feathers are 

 black and the next inner ones white. 

 L., 13.00; W., 7.50; T., 7.50. 



Range — Southern Tex. southward. 



on the " wid." They not only catch moths and beetles, but 

 remains of small birds have been found in their stomachs; 

 luckless individuals probably having been iTiistaken for 

 large moths as they happened to be a-wing after dark. 



WHIP-POOR-WILLS are also so called because their 

 notes sound like these syllables. A smaller species in 

 Southwestern States likewise raises its voice nightly, mourn- 

 ing "Poor-will." It really seems as though poor "Will" 

 must have met with some awful and untimely end. Whip- 

 poor-wills are very widely and well known by their notes; 

 comparatively few, however, actually know the birds even 

 sufficiently well to distinguish between them and the more 

 often seen Nighthawks. 



The hours of daylight they spend sleeping on some log, 

 stump or on the ground under the shade of woods or under- 

 brush. They are so quiet and their plumage just matches 

 their surroundings so well that only the sharpest of eyes can 

 detect them. After the sun has disappeared, they undergo 

 a remarkable change; the apparently inanimate objects 



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