336 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



first quill is decidedly the longest, and the lesser ones very deeply, but irregularly notched. 

 The wings reach just to the end of the tail.— Sw. 









Dimensions 



















Of the male. 















Inch. 



Lin. 





inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 



Length, total 



. 9 







Length of bill to rictus . 







11 



Length of middle nail 



. 



3 



„ of tail 



. 3 







,, of tarsus 



. 



7 



„ of hind toe 



. 



5* 



„ of wing 



. 6 



2 



„ of middle toe 







8 



„ of hind nail 



. 



3 



,, of bill above 







H 















[119.] 1. Caprimulgus vociferus. (Wilson.) The Whip-poor Will. 



Family, Caprimulgidse ; Sub-family, Caprimulginae, Swains. Genus, Caprimulgus, Linn. 

 The Whip-poor Will (Caprimulgus vociferus). Wils., v., p. 71, pi. 41, f. 1, 2, 3. 

 Caprimulgus vociferus. Bonap. Syn., No. 68. 



We observed this bird on the northern shores of Lake Huron only, the 

 fiftieth parallel being- probably the limit of its range. It arrives in Penn- 

 sylvania about the middle of April, and in a short time becomes so common in 

 some districts as to disturb the repose of travellers by its melancholy nocturnal 

 cry of " Whip-poor-will :" it retires during the day to the most secluded shades 

 of the forest. The elevated, dry " Barrens of Kentucky " are its favourite resorts, 

 and it is very seldom heard in low, marshy tracts of country. Its food consists 

 of Phalence and other winged nocturnal insects. Its eggs have a greyish-white 

 ground colour, nearly concealed by irregular and confluent blotches of umber, 

 mixed with lines and spots of bluish-grey : they are obtuse at both ends, and 

 measure one inch one line in length. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Colour. — Head, nape, scapulars, tertiaries, and rump, broccoli-brown and white, in 

 minute dots, with central streaks and blotches of rich velvet-black. Back of the neck and 

 interscapulars blackish-brown, dotted with brownish-grey. Wings dark umber, the coverts 

 mottled and the quills barred with ferruginous, and the tips of the latter marbled with grey. 

 Two central pairs of tail feathers mottled with blackish-brown and brownish-white, and obso- 

 letely barred ; the lateral feathers white, their bases black ; the exterior one edged near the 

 tip with the same. Under plumage : — Sides of the head and the throat greyish-black, barred 

 with wood-brown ; a white collar from ear to ear, almost obsolete on the middle of the throat. 

 Front of the neck and shoulders dusky-brown, speckled on the tips with white and umber. 



