228 
GOATSUCKERS 
United States from the plains to the Pacific, and to British Columbia west 
of Cascades; migrates to northern South America. 
Eggs- — Laid on the ground in open situations ; 2, like those of virgin- 
ianus. 
420c. C. v. sennetti (Cows). Sennett Nighthawk. 
Similar to henryi , but much paler; top of head brownish instead of 
blackish ; wing coverts largely whitish ; under parts with dark bars brown 
instead of black, spaced with white instead of huffy. 
Distribution. — Treeless region of the plains, from the Saskatchewan 
south to Texas. 
421. Chordeiles acutipennis texensis ( Lawr .). Texan 
Nighthawk. 
Adult male. — White throat patch without adjoining black chest patch, 
belly barred with blackish and 
buffy ; upper parts dull mottled 
gray, streaked with blackish ; 
white wing band back of tip of sev¬ 
enth quill; space between white 
band and primary coverts spotted 
with brown. Adult female: sim¬ 
ilar, but with white tail band 
restricted or wanting and wing band buffy. Young: more finely mottled, 
with less blackish above, less barring beneath, and upper parts often 
suffused with cinnamon or rusty buff. Length : 8-9, wing 6.60-7.30, tail 
4.10-4.75. 
Distribution. — Breeds in Lower Sonoran zone from Texas to southern 
California, and from Nevada and Utah south to Cape St. Lucas and Ve- 
ragua. 
Eggs. — Deposited on the bare ground; 2, clay color to creamy, minutely 
marbled with dots of grays, browns, and lilac. 
Food. — Partly moths, cicadas, and beetles. 
Mr. Anthony found the Texan nighthawks ‘ fairly swarming ’ at 
Deming, New Mexico; and in Phoenix and Yuma, Arizona, and in 
the southwestern parts of Texas, Mr. Bailey found them abundant. 
They sit in the shade during the day, but at night the air is filled 
with their ‘bubbling cry,’ especially about water. At Yuma they 
would come to the river just after sundown to drink. Hovering 
close to the water with neck bent down they would take a sip, then 
fly a little way and repeat it. After drinking they would circle 
over the water till dark in pursuit of insects. At Owen Lake, Cali¬ 
fornia, they were found skimming close to the water in pursuit of a 
small fly which was swarming on and near the shore. 
Mr. Anthony says they do not indulge in the aerial evolutions of 
other nighthawks, but fly low, doing much of their hunting within 
two feet of the ground, jumping up after passing insects much as 
the poor-wills do. 
On the wing they are easily told from other nighthawks by their 
brownness and by the position of the wing bar near the tip of the 
Fig. 293. 
