18 
CAPRIMULGUS VOCIFERUS. 
these feathers is reguilarly studded with light brown 
spots ; the four middle ones are without the white at 
the ends, but beautifully marked with herring-bone 
figures of black and light ochre finely powdered ; cheeks 
and sides of the head, of a brown orange or burnt colour ; 
the wings, when shut, reach scarcely to the middle of 
the tail, and are elegantly spotted with very light and 
dark brown, but are entirely without the large spot of 
white which distinguishes those of the night hawk ; 
chin, black, streaked with brown ; a narrow semicircle 
of white passes across the throat ; breast and belly, irregu- 
larly mottled and streaked with black and yellow ochre ; 
the legs and feet are of a light purplish flesh colour, 
seamed with white ; the former feathered before, nearly 
to the feet; the two exterior toes are joined to the 
middle one, as far as the first joint, by a broad membrane ; 
the inner edge of the middle claw is pectinated, and, 
from the circumstance of its being frequently found 
with small portions of down adhering to the teeth, is 
probably employed as a comb to rid the plumage of its 
head of vermin ; this being the principal and almost 
only part so infested in all birds. 
The female is about an inch less in length and in 
extent ; the bill, mustaches, nostrils, &c. as in the male. 
She differs in being much lighter on the upper parts, 
seeming as if powdered with grains of meal ; and, instead 
of the white on the three lateral tail-feathers, has them 
tipt for about three-quarters of an inch with a cream 
colour ; the bar across the throat is also of a brownish 
ochre ; the cheeks and region of the eyes are brighter 
brownish orange, which passes also to the neck, and is 
sprinkled with black and specks of white ; the streak 
over the eye is also lighter. 
The young was altogether covered with fine down, 
of a pale brown colour ; the shafts, or rather sheaths, of 
•the quills, bluish ; the point of the bill, just perceptible. 
Twenty species of this singular genus are now known 
to naturalists ; of these one only belongs to Europe, 
one to Africa, one to New Holland, two to India, and 
fifteen to America. 
