THE ALGERIAN RED-NECKED NIGHTJAR. 



17 



migratory. Casual in Malta, Sicily and Heligoland . A less greyish, 

 more reddish -isabelline form inhabits the Sahara, south Algeria, 

 south Tunisia, Libyan Desert to Egypt on west side of Nile. 



CAPRIMULGUS RUFICOLLIS 



216. Caprimulgus ruficollis desertorum Erl.* 

 ALGERIAN RED-NECKED NIGHTJAR. 



THE 



Caprimulgus ruficollis desertorum Erlanger, Journ. f. Orn., 1899, 

 p. 521, pi. xi (Tunisia). 



Caprimulgus ruficollis Temminck, Yarrell, 11, p. 386, in, p. ix ; Saunders, 

 p. 269. 



Description. — Adult male. 

 Summer. — General charac- 

 ter of upper-parts much 

 like C. e. europceus but 

 much paler and with broad 

 rufous-buff collar. Sides 

 of fore -head, crown and 

 nape silver - grey, very 

 finely freckled with black, 

 feathers of centre of fore- 

 head, crown and nape 

 with broad velvety-black 

 shaft-stripes margined with 

 rufous ; broad nuchal collar 

 extending to sides of throat 



golden-buff and rufous with small black markings ; mantle duller 

 grey than sides of crown and with narrow black-brown shaft- 

 stripes ; back and rump same but more tinged buff and feathers 

 with more or less well-defined black-brown cross-bars ; upper 

 tail-coverts same but with irregular blackish markings in centres 

 of feathers and not definitely cross-barred ; scapulars silver-grey 

 freckled as crown with broad velvety-black shaft-stripes somewhat 

 irregular and in many feathers broadly margined (chiefly on outer 

 webs) with uniform buff to rufous-buff ; lores and narrow line 

 over eye rufous ; ear -coverts same but lower feathers partially 

 white forming continuation of short and narrow white moustachial 

 stripe ; chin rufous -buff, feathers tipped black ; across throat 

 patch of white, more or less clearly divided centrally by rufous 

 feathers with black tips ; lower-throat and upper-breast rufous- 

 buff, tips of feathers greyish and finely freckled black-brown ; 



The Algerian Red-necked Nightjar 

 (Caprimulgus r. desertorum). 



* I have carefully examined the specimen from Killingworth ; it ir, rather 

 faded, but, taking this into full consideration, there seems no doubt that it 

 belongs to the desert form, and not to the darker C. ruficollis ruficollis from 

 Spain and north Marocco, which one would have expected. — E.H. 



VOL. II. C 



