GENUS 47. CAPRIMULGUS. GOATSUCKER.

SPECIES 1. C. CAROLINENSIS.*

CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW.

[Plate LIV.—Fig. 2.]

PEALE'S Museum, No. 7723.

THIS solitary bird is rarely found to the north of James river in Virginia on the sea-board, or of Nashville in the state of Tennesee in the interior; and no instance has come to my knowledge in which it has been seen either in New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Maryland. On my journey south I first met with it between Richmond and Petersburg in Virginia, and also on the banks of the Cumberland in Tennesee.

Mr. Pennant has described this bird under the appellation of the Short-winged Goatsucker, (Arct. Zool. No. 336.) from a specimen which he received from Dr. Garden of Charleston, South Carolina; but in speaking of its manners he confounds it with the Whip-poor-will, though the latter is little more than half the cubic bulk of the former, and its notes altogether different. "In South Carolina," says this writer, speaking of the present species, "it is called, from one of its notes, Chuck, chuck-will's-widow; and in the northern provinces Whip-poor-will, from the resemblance which another of its notes bears to those words. "t He then proceeds to detail the manners of the common Whippoor-will, by extracts from Dr. Garden and Mr. Kalm, which clearly prove that all of them were personally unacquainted with that bird; and had never seen or examined any other than

GMEL. Syst. I, p. 1028.-LATH. Ind. Orn. 11, p. 584.-Caprimulgus rufus, VIEILL. Ois. de l'Am. Sept. Pl. 25, female.

† Arct. Zool. p. 434.

two of our species, the Short-winged or Chuck-will's-widow, and the Long-winged, or Night Hawk, to both of which they indiscriminately attribute the notes and habits of the Whippoor-will.

The Chuck-will's-widow, so called from its notes which seem exactly to articulate those words, arrives on the sea coast of Georgia about the middle of March, and in Virginia early in April. It commences its singular call generally in the evening, soon after sunset, and continues it with short occasional interruptions for several hours. Towards morning these repetitions are renewed, and continue until dawn has fairly appeared. During the day it is altogether silent. This note, or call, instantly attracts the attention of a stranger, and is strikingly different from that of the Whip-poor-will. In sound and articulation it seems plainly to express the words which have been applied to it (Chuck-will's-widow), pronouncing each syllable leisurely and distinctly, putting the principal emphasis on the last word. In a still evening it may be heard at the distance of nearly a mile, the tones of its voice being stronger and more full than those of the Whip-poor-will, who utters his with much greater rapidity. In the Chickasaw country, and throughout the whole Mississippi territory, I found the present species very numerous in the months of April and May, keeping up a continued noise during the whole evening, and in moonlight throughout the whole of the night.

The flight of this bird is low, skimming about at a few feet above the surface of the ground, frequently settling on old logs, or on the fences, and from thence sweeping around in pursuit of various winged insects that fly in the night. Like the Whippoor-will it prefers the declivities of glens and other deeply shaded places, making the surrounding mountains ring with echoes the whole evening. I several times called the attention of the Chickasaws to the notes of this bird, on which occasions they always assumed a grave and thoughtful aspect; but it appeared to me that they made no distinction between the two species;

so that whatever superstitious notions they may entertain of the one are probably applied to both..

This singular genus of birds, formed to subsist on the superabundance of nocturnal insects, are exactly and surprisingly fitted for their peculiar mode of life. Their flight is low, to accomodate itself to their prey; silent, that they may be the better concealed, and sweep upon it unawares; their sight most acute in the dusk, when such insects are abroad; their evolutions something like those of the bat, quick and sudden; their mouths capable of prodigious expansion, to seize with more certainty, and furnished with long branching hairs, or bristles, serving as palisadoes to secure what comes between them. Reposing so much during the heats of day they are much infested with vermin, particularly about the head, and are provided with a comb on the inner edge of the middle claw, with which they are often employed in ridding themselves of these pests, at least when in a state of captivity. Having no weapons of defence except their wings, their chief security is in the solitude of night, and in their colour and close retreats by day; the former so much resembling that of dead leaves of various hues as not to be readily distinguished from them even when close at hand.

The Chuck-will's-widow lays its eggs, two in number, on the ground, generally, and I believe always, in the woods; it makes no nest; the eggs are of a dull olive colour, sprinkled with darker specks, are about as large as those of a Pigeon, and exactly oval. Early in September they retire from the United States.

This species is twelve inches long, and twenty-six in extent; bill yellowish, tipt with black; the sides of the mouth are armed with numerous long bristles, strong, tapering, and furnished with finer hairs branching from each; cheeks and chin rust colour, specked with black; over the eye extends a line of small whitish spots; head and back very deep brown, powdered with cream, rust and bright ferruginous, and marked with long ragged streaks of black; scapulars broadly spotted with deep black, bordered with cream, and interspersed with whitish; the plumage of that part of the neck which falls over the back is long,

something like that of a cock, and streaked with yellowish brown; wing quills barred with black and bright rust; tail rounded, extending about an inch beyond the tips of the wings; it consists of ten feathers, the four middle ones are powdered with various tints of ferruginous, and elegantly marked with fine zigzag lines and large herring-bone figures of black; exterior edges of the three outer feathers barred like the wings; their interior vanes for two-thirds of their length are pure snowy white, marbled with black and ferruginous at the base; this white spreads over the greater part of the three outer feathers near their tips; across the throat is a slight band or mark of whitish; breast. black, powdered with rust; belly and vent lighter; legs feathered before nearly to the feet, which are of a dirty purplish flesh colour; inner side of the middle claw deeply pectinated.

The female differs chiefly in wanting the pure white on the three exterior tail feathers, these being more of a brownish cast.

SPECIES 2. CAPRIMULGUS AMERICANUS.*

NIGHT-HAWK.

[Plate XL.-Fig. 1, Male.-Fig. 2, Female.]

Long-winged Goat sucker, Arct. Zool. No. 337-PEALE'S Museum, No. 7723, male; 7724, female.

THIS bird, in Virginia and some of the southern districts, is called a bat; the name Night-hawk is usually given it in the middle and northern states, probably on account of its appearance when on wing very much resembling some of our small Hawks, and from its habit of flying chiefly in the evening. Though it is a bird universally known in the United States, and inhabits North America, in summer, from Florida to Hudson's Bay, yet its history has been involved in considerable obscurity by foreign writers, as well as by some of our own. country. Of this I shall endeavour to devest it in the present account.

Three species only, of this genus, are found within the United States; the Chuck-will's-widow, the Whip-poor-will, and the Night-hawk. The first of these is confined to those states lying south of Maryland; the other two are found generally over the union, but are frequently confounded one with the other, and by some supposed to be one and the same bird. A comparison of this with the succeeding plate, which contains the figure of the Whip-poor-will, will satisfy those who still have their doubts on this subject; and the great difference of manners which distinguishes each will render this still more striking and satisfactory.

Caprimulgus popetue, VIEILL. Ois. de l'Am. Sept. pl. 24, female.