350 



FAMILY IV.*— CAPRIMULGIN^E. GOAT-SUCKERS. 

 Genus I.f— CAPRIMULGUS, Linn. GOAT-SUCKER. 



NUTTALL'S WHIP-POOR-WILL. 



- Caprimulgus Nttttallii, Aud. 



PLATE CCCCLXLV.— Male. 



How little did I think whilst at Edinburgh, in the year 1839, that I would 

 have found and procured Nuttall's Whip-poor-will, in the course of my 

 rambles on the Upper Missouri, in the year 1843. At the former date I 

 gave an intimation of the existence of such a bird in my fifth volume of 

 Ornithological Biographies, at page 335, to which you, reader, may refer if 

 you please. 



On Thursday the 7th of September, 1843, we were forced to land our 

 boat on the eastern side of the Missouri river, on account of the wind, which 

 at that time blew too high for us to proceed; for, reader, whenever the wind 

 is strong, the waters of the Missouri become at once ruffled, and the naviga- 

 tion by no means secure. We halted at a place where we thought we could 

 spend the time in hunting, with some advantage, and the moment our Macki- 

 naw boat was tied to the trees on the shore, each man, bearing a gun, 

 sallied forth in search of such game as I was anxious to procure. Elks were 

 abundant, and we saw a great number of them, some were snapped at within 

 a few paces, others were shot at at considerable distances; but Mr. Cul- 

 bertson, (the superintendent of Fort Union, who accompanied us as far as 

 Fort Pierre, and his Indian wife and young son who were of the party,) had 

 the good fortune to shoot and kill a fine young male, of which I will speak 

 elsewhere. The woods were thickly matted and difficult of ingress; some 

 went up the river, whilst others followed a contrary course; some Sharp- 

 tailed Grouse were started, shot at, and brought to our camp. In the course 

 of the night the wind blew so violently, that all on board resorted to the 

 shore, Mrs. Culbertson leaping first on shore with her babe in her arms, 



* See vol. i. p. 150. t Ibid. 



