THE NIGHTJAR. 11 



CAPRIMULGUS EUROPAEUS 



214. Caprimulgus europaeus europaeus L. — THE NIGHTJAR. 



Caprimulgus europ^us Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 193 (1758 — 

 Europe and America," the latter a mistake. Restricted typical locality : 

 Sweden). 

 Caprimulgus europceus Linnaeus, Yarrell, u, p. 377 ; Saunders, p. 267. 



Description. — Adult male. 

 Winter. — Fore-head and 

 whole crown grey with a 

 silvery tone, very thickly 

 and very finely freckled 

 with wavy bars of brown 

 and each feather with a 

 pronounced black shaft- 

 stripe becoming very broad 

 down centre of crown where 

 they are usually margined 



with rufous (feathers of The Nightjar (Caprimulgus e. europceus). 



back of crown somewhat 



elongated and pointed) ; some feathers on nape with cream- 

 coloured shaft stripes (forming very indistinct and much broken 

 collar) ; mantle and back as crown but rather darker and duller 

 and with less silvery tone and black stripes not so prominent as 

 in centre of crown ; inner scapulars as centre of crown with silvery 

 tone more pronounced, most of the feathers with broad diagonal 

 bands of cream to dark cream and rufous and black with varying 

 amount of freckling and barring ; rump and upper tail-coverts as 

 mantle but with black shaft-stripe broken and feathers with 

 broken transverse bars of black ; lores and narrow line over eye 

 cream to rufous freckled black ; ear -coverts, cheeks, chin and 

 upper-throat rufous narrowly barred black ; narrow and somewhat 

 broken moustachial stripe cream ; patch of cream or whitish on 

 lower throat, usually divided centrally by some feathers like upper- 

 throat ; below this patch a band of feathers extending to sides of 

 neck under ear-coverts creamy-buff to whitish irregularly marked 

 and barred brown and black ; upper-breast grey-brown vermicu- 

 lated and barred brown -black and many feathers with buff or 

 cream tips ; lower-breast, flanks, belly, under wing-coverts and 

 axillaries buff barred dark brown ; under tail-coverts same but 

 with fewer bars ; tail : central pair grey much vermiculated and 

 with broad wavy bars of brown black, often not very well defined, 

 next two pairs darker and browner and with much wider bars, 

 two outer pairs with still more black and with only broken bars 

 of brown-buff and with tips (25-30 mm.) usually pure white but 

 sometimes tinged buff and speckled black ; primaries brown- 

 black freckled grey at tips, outer webs with broken, spot-like 



