Chapter I: Family Caprimulgidæ. the Goatsuckers

Plumage soft, blended, and owl-like. Species generally nocturnal in their habits, or venturing abroad only in the twilight or in the night.

Bill small, weak, generally furnished at the base with projecting bristles; gape very wide; feet usually slender and weak; wings generally long, adapted to long-continued flight. This family is represented in all temperate and tropical regions of the world.

A.

1. Genus Antrostomus. Gould, Nuttall. Manual of the Ornithology of the
United States and Canada, I. p. 739 (second edition, 1840).

General form plump and robust; head large; bill short, weak, opening to beyond the eyes; gape very large; nostrils basal, oval, prominent; eyes large; wing long; somewhat pointed; second and third quills longest; legs and toes short, feeble; claw of the middle toe pectinated; tail moderate, wide, generally even at the end; bristles at the base of the bill rigid, long, usually curved at their ends; throat in males with an uninterrupted collar of white; quills with bars of rufous. An exclusively American genus containing six or seven species, more nearly related to typical Caprimulgus than any other birds of this family inhabiting this continent, and almost nocturnal in their habits, venturing abroad only by twilight or in the night.

1. Antrostomus carolinensis. (Gm.) The Chuck-wills-widow. The great
Carolina Goatsucker.
Caprimulgus carolinensis. Gm., Syst. Nat., II. p. 1028. (1788.)
Caprimulgus lucifugus. Bartram, Travels, p. 292. (1793.)
Caprimulgus rufus. Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept. 1, p. 57. (1807.)
Caprimulgus brachypterus. Stephens, Gen. Zool., X. p. 150. (1817.)

Catesby’s Carolina, I. pl. 8; Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept. 1, pl. 25;
Wilson, Am. Orn., VI. pl. 54, fig. 2; Aud., Birds of Am., pl. 52, Oct.
ed., I. pl. 41.

Largest of the North American species. General form broad and robust;
wing long; second quill longest; tail ample; legs short; bristles at
the base of the bill strong; each one ciliated; entire upper parts
dark brown, minutely dotted with reddish fulvous, and with many of the
feathers having large, longitudinal stripes of black; inferior parts
similar to the upper, but more minutely marked with black, and marked
with circular fulvous spots; throat with an uninterrupted collar of
white, running into a collar of fulvous on the neck behind; quills
with irregular alternate bars of reddish fulvous and brownish-black;
middle feathers of the tail reddish fulvous, mottled with, and with
irregular bars of black; other feathers of the tail similar, but
tipped with silky white, frequently tinged with reddish fulvous on
their outer-webs. Female like the male, but without white on the
tail-feathers.

Dimensions. Total length, about 12 inches; wing, 8½; tail, 5¾ to 6
inches.

Hab. Southern United States. South Carolina (Gibbes); New Mexico
(McCall); Cuba (Lembeye); Florida (Bartram). Spec. in Mus. Acad.,
Philada.

Obs. This fine species is frequently met with in the southern and southwestern States, and is much the largest of the North American birds of this family.

2. Antrostomus vociferus. (Wilson.) The Whip-poor-will.
Caprimulgus vociferus. Wilson, Am. Orn., V. p. 71. (1812.)
Caprimulgus clamator. Vieill., Nouv. Dict., X. p. 234. (1817.)
“Caprimulgus virginianus. Linn. Gm.” Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept. 1,
p. 65.
Caprimulgus macromystax. Wagler, Isis, 1831, p. 533?

Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept. 1, pl. 23; Wilson, Am. Orn., V. pl. 41;
Aud., Birds of Am., pl. 82; Oct. ed., I. pl. 42; Nat. Hist. N. Y.
Birds, pl. 27, fig. 39.

Smaller than the preceding; wing with the third quill slightly
longest; tail ample, rounded; neck with an uninterrupted collar of
white before and fulvous behind; head above ashy-gray, with a
longitudinal stripe of brownish-black; back and rump dark brown, with
minute points and irregular lines of cinereous; under-parts mottled
with pale reddish-white and brownish-black, the latter most
conspicuous on the breast, the former on the abdomen and under
tail-coverts; four middle feathers of the tail mottled with gray and
brownish-black, the latter forming irregular bands; external feathers
of the tail brownish-black, widely tipped with silky white, and with
traces of rufous bars towards the base; quills brownish-black, with
interrupted bars of rufous; exposed ends of primaries same as the
back. Female rather smaller than the male, with the white collar on
the neck tinged with fulvous, which is also the color of the tips of
the external tail-feathers.

Dimensions. Total length, about 9½ inches; wing, 6½; tail, 5 inches.

Hab. Eastern North America. Western? Canada (Dr. Hall); Cuba (Mr.
Lembeye); Florida (Bartram). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.

Obs. This species is of common occurrence in the States on the Atlantic, and is universally known from its loud and often-repeated notes in the season of pairing and incubation. It is not recorded by our late naturalists and travellers to have been observed in the western regions of this continent, but the specimens described by Wagler as above were from Mexico, and were either this species, or a near relative. To _Caprimulgus macromystax_ we shall more particularly allude under the head of obscure species of this family.

3. Antrostomus Nuttallii. (Aud.) Nuttall’s Whip-poor-will.
Caprimulgus Nuttallii. Aud., Orn. Biog., V. p. 335. (1839.)

Aud., B. of Am., Oct. ed., VII. pl. 495.

Small, aberrant; wing long; third quill longest; legs rather long;
tail moderate; upper-parts brownish-black, mottled and spotted with
ashy white and reddish fulvous; wing-coverts tipped with pearly ashy
white; under-parts with transverse stripes of brownish-black and
yellowish-white; under tail-coverts pale reddish fulvous; quills with
alternate transverse bars of brownish-black and handsome reddish
fulvous; middle feathers of the tail same colors as other upper parts;
other tail feathers brownish-black, with irregular bars and lines of
dark cinereous, and widely tipped with silky white; collar on the neck
before silky white. Female similar, but with the colors paler, and the
white of the throat and tail tinged with pale fulvous.

Dimensions. Total length, about 7 inches; wing, 5¾; tail, 3¼ inches.

Hab. Western North America, Rocky Mountains (Audubon); Oregon (U. S.
Ex. Exp. Vincennes); Washington Territory (Dr. Cooper); Texas (Mr. J.
H. Clark). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada., and Nat. Mus., Washington.

Obs. This handsome species, which is the smallest of the birds of this family yet discovered in North America, appears to be a rather common bird in the countries above mentioned. It varies in some degree from the characters of the typical species, and with a small South American bird (_A. ocellatus_), may form a distinct group. Nothing is recorded of its habits.