. 
NIGHTHAWKS AND WHIP-POOR-WILLS 331 
XVI. ORDER MACROCHIRES. GOATSUCKERS, SWIFTS, 
HUMMINGBIRDS, ETC. 
44. Family Caprimulgid^e. Nighthawks, Whip-poor-wills, Etc. 
(Fig. 55.) 
Goatsuckers are found in most parts of the world, but are more 
numerously represented in the tropics. Some one hundred species are 
known, of which about one-half are American, though only six reach 
North America. Most of the American species are forest-inhabiting, 
passing the day upon the leaves or perched lengthwise upon the branches 
of trees, where their dull, blended colors harmonize with their surround- 
ings. The Nighthawks, however, are equally at home in treeless coun- 
tries. Nighthawks feed high in the air, like Swifts, while other species 
frequent the borders of forests or clearings, where they feed nearer the 
ground. All the species capture their food of insects on the wing, their 
enormous mouths and the long, stiffened bristles, which in some species 
beset its base, especially adapting them to this mode of feeding. Many 
of the species are possessed of remarkable vocal powers, and their 
cries are among the most striking of bird-notes. They make no nest 
but lay their two mottled or marbled eggs on the ground. The young 
are hatched covered with down. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES 
A. A white spot in the wing. 
420. Nighthawk. 420c. Florida Nighthawk. 
B. No white spot in the wing; primaries spotted with rufous. 
a. Wing under 7'50 417. Whip-poor-will. 
b. Wing over 7‘50 416. Chuck-will’s- widow. 
416. Antrostomus carolinensis ( Gmel .). Chuck- will’s- widow. Ad. 
<?.— -Upperparts streaked with black and finely mottled with ochraceous- 
buff and black; primaries black, with broken rufous bars; tail mottled with 
black and ochraceous-buff, the end half of all but the two middle feathers 
white, more or less washed with buffy on the inner vane ; underparts mot- 
tled with black, ochraceous, and cream-buff; an imperfect whitish band 
across the upper breast; base of the bill beset with long, stiffened bristles, 
the basal half of these bristles grown with hairlike branches. Ad. 9 . — Similar, 
but with no white patches in the tail, the upper breast with an ochraceous- 
buff instead of white band. L., 12*00; W., 8*50; T., 6*00; B., ’40. 
Range. — Breeds in Austroriparian fauna from Mo., Ind., s. Ohio, and 
s. Va. s. to cen. Tex., and Gulf States; casual in Kans. and Md., accidental 
in Mass, and Ont. ; winters from s. Fla. to Greater Antilles and Colombia. 
Washington, one record. Cambridge, A. V., one record, Dec. 
Eggs, 2, laid on the ground or leaves, in woods or thickets, dull white, 
with delicate, obscure pale lilac markings, and a few distinct brownish gray 
spots, 1'40 x *98. Date , San Mateo, Fla., Apl. 14. 
Generally speaking, this species resembles the Whip-poor-will in 
habits. Its notes are quite similar to those of that species, but are 
louder, less rapidly uttered, and each call has an additional syllable. 
Its gape is enormous, the wide-open mouth of an adult measuring 
