16 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



brown ; primaries brown-black with tips greyish-sandy freckled 

 brown-black, outer webs with broad bars of somewhat rufous-buff 

 freckled brown-black, inner webs same at tip but with basal three- 

 fourths white deeply and irregularly indented with broad teeth- 

 like markings of brown -black ; secondaries sandy-buff, inner 

 webs whitish, more or less vermiculated brown and barred across 

 with wavy brown, innermost secondaries as upper-parts greyish- 

 sandy much vermiculated and with wavy narrow bars of black ; 

 wing-coverts much as upper -parts but with tips of feathers almost 

 uniform sandy -buff giving spot-like appearance. This plumage is 

 acquired by complete moult April -Aug. 



Nestling. — (Not examined.) 



Juvenile. — Like adults and difficult to distinguish except by 

 rather looser structure of feathers. 



First winter. — Like adults. The juvenile plumage is com 

 pletely (including wings and tail) moulted June-Oct. 



Measurements and structure. — $ wing 184-211 mm., tail 115- 

 129, tarsus 21-23, bill from feathers 8-9 (9 measured). $ wing 

 190-208 (one 225). Primaries : 2nd longest, 1st 2-9 mm. shorter, 

 3rd 1-7 shorter, 4th 20-30 shorter, 5th 40-48 shorter, 6th 56-66 

 shorter ; outer webs of 2nd and 3rd emarginated, and very slightly 

 serrated along edge of emarginated portion. Rest of structure 

 as in C. e. europceus but tarsus feathered for only one-third to half 

 its length. 



Soft parts.- — -Bill dark slate, flesh at base ; legs and feet grey ; 

 iris dark brown. 



Characters and allied forms. — C. ce. saharce (Algeria to Libyan 

 desert) is of a warmer sand -colour, not so grey. Sandy -grey upper- 

 parts without thick black stripes and absence of white spots on 

 primaries and outer tail-feathers in male, distinguish species from 

 other British Goatsuckers. 



Breeding-habits. — No nest is made and the eggs are laid in a 

 mere scrape in the desert sand. Eggs. — 2, paler in colouring than 

 European Nightjar, pale yellowish -grey, marbled and blotched 

 with pale olivaceous and leaden-grey. Average of 7, 32.1 x 21.7 

 mm. Max. : 34 x 21 and 33 X 22. Min. : 30 X 22 and 32 x 21. 

 Breeding -season. — Eggs taken in Algeria from March 27 to June 

 17. No details of incubation. 



Food. — Probably chiefly coleoptera and orthoptera, but no definite 

 records . 



Distribution. — England. — One Rainworth, near Mansfield (Notts.) 

 June 23, 1883 (J. Whitaker, Zool., 1883, p. 374). 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Ranges from Turkestan, Afghanistan, 

 Baluchistan, Mesopotamia, and east Persia to Egypt, and is partly 



