Bristles without lateral filaments; tail much rounded. General colour
of upper parts dark brownish-grey, streaked and minutely sprinkled
with brownish-black; quills and coverts dark brown, spotted in bars
with light brownish-red; four middle tail-feathers like those of the
back, the three lateral white in their terminal half; throat and
breast similar to the back, with a transverse band of white on the
fore neck, the rest of the lower parts paler and mottled. Female like
the male, but with the lateral tail-feathers reddish-white toward the
tip only, and the band across the fore neck pale yellowish-brown.
_Male_, 9-1/2, 19. _Female._
From Texas to Lake Huron, and the base of the Rocky Mountains. A few
remain in winter in Florida.
Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. v.
p. 71.
Caprimulgus vociferus, Bonap. Syn. p. 62.
Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i.
p. 422; v. v. p. 405.
Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus, Nutt. Man. v. i. p.
614.
GENUS II. CHORDEILES, Swainson. NIGHT-HAWK.
Mouth opening to beneath the centre of the eyes; bill extremely small;
upper mandible with the tip decurved, and a deep lateral groove.
Nostrils oblong, prominent, marginate. Eyes very large. Aperture of
ear elliptical, very large. Head very large, depressed, but less so
than in Caprimulgus. Claw of middle toe pectinate. No bristles at the
base of the upper mandible. Wings very long, pointed, with the first
quill longest, and the secondaries very short. Tail emarginate.
43. 1. Chordeiles Virginianus, Briss. Virginian Night-Hawk.--Bat.
Crapaud volant.
Plate CXLVII. Male and Female.
Upper parts brownish-black, mottled with white and pale reddish-brown;
a conspicuous white bar extending across the inner web of the first,
and the whole breadth of the next four quills; tail-feathers barred
with brownish-grey, the four outer on each side plain brownish-black
towards the end, with a large white spot; sides of the head and fore
neck mottled like the back; a broad white band, in the form of the
letter V reversed on the throat and sides of the neck; the rest of the
lower parts greyish-white, transversely undulated with dark brown.
Female similar, with the dark parts more brown, the white more tinged
with red, the band on the throat brownish-white, and the white spots
on the tail-feathers wanting.
_Male_, 9-1/2, 23-1/2. _Female_, 9-3/4, 23-3/4.
From Texas northward. Columbia River. Throughout the interior.
Migratory. Very abundant.
Night-Hawk, Caprimulgus Americanus, Wils. Amer. Ornith. Biog.
v. v. p. 65.
Caprimulgus Virginianus, Bonap. Syn. p. 62.
Caprimulgus (Chordeiles) Virginianus, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor.
Amer. v. i. p. 62.
Night-Hawk, Caprimulgus Americanus, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 619.
Night-Hawk, Caprimulgus Virginianus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p.
273; v. v. p. 406.