MACROCHIRES.

Family 1.GOATSUCKERS. Caprimulgidæ.6 species, 6 subspecies.
Family 2.SWIFTS.Micropodidæ.4 species.
Family 3.HUMMINGBIRDS.Trochilidæ.17 species.

The Goatsuckers are birds of the dusk and early morning. They live chiefly on insects which they capture on the wing, their enormous mouths being especially well adapted to this kind of hunting. Our species build no nest but lay their two mottled eggs on the bare ground or leaves. The young are hatched covered with down and can follow their parents about long before they acquire the power of flight. Goatsuckers are noted for their singular calls, most of the species uttering loud, characteristic notes which, heard at night, are especially effective.

Swifts are birds of world-wide distribution; about half the seventy-five known species being found in America. They are pre-eminently birds of the air with wings so well developed that few birds can surpass them in power of flight, but with feet so weak and small that many species cannot perch as do most birds, but, when resting, cling to a vertical surface and use their tail to aid their feet in supporting themselves. Their nests are often marvels of architectural skill and constructive ability. The eggs, four to six in number, are white.

Hummingbirds are found only in America where they range from Patagonia to Alaska, but the larger part of the some five hundred known species are found in the Andean region of Columbia and Ecuador. Only one species is found east of the Mississippi, and nine of our sixteen western species advance but little beyond our Mexican border.

Hummingbirds nests are the most exquisite of birds' homes. Their eggs, so far as is known, number two, and are pure white. The young are born naked and, in the case of our Ruby-throat, at least, spend about three weeks in the nest.

The notes of some tropical Hummingbirds are sufficiently varied to be classed as songs but our species utter only sharp squeaks and excited chipperings.

Goatsuckers

416. Chuck-will's-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis). L. 12. Mouth bristles with fine, hair-like branches near their base. Ad. ♂. End half of outer tail-feathers white, rusty, and black on outer webs; chin chiefly rusty; throat-patch buffy. Ad. ♀. No white in tail. Notes. A loudly whistled chuck-will's-widow, repeated many times. Range.—South Atlantic and Gulf States; breeds north to Virginia and Illinois; west to Kansas and central Texas; winters from southern Florida southward. 417. Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus). L. 9.7. Mouth bristles without branches. Ad. ♂. Three outer tail-feathers broadly tipped with white; white on inner vane of outer feather 1.4 or more wide; throat patch white; chin chiefly black. Ad. ♀. Three outer tail-feathers narrowly tipped with rusty buff; throat patch rusty buff. Notes. A rapid, vigorous, whistled whip-poor-will, repeated many times. Range.—Eastern North America, west to the Plains; breeds from Gulf States north to New Brunswick and Manitoba; winters from Gulf States southward. 417a. Stephens Whip-poor-will (A. v. macromystax). Similar to [No. 417], but slightly larger, W. 6.5; mouth bristles much longer; male with throat-patch rusty; white on inner web of outer feather less than 1.3 wide. Range.—"Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Texas, south over mountains bordering tablelands of Mexico to Guatemala." (Bailey.) 418. Poor-will (Phalænoptilus nuttallii). L. 7.7. Primaries rusty barred with black. Ad. ♂. Three outer tail-feathers evenly tipped with white; a large white throat patch; plumage above suggesting in color the wings of certain moths. Ad. ♀. Similar, but tail-tips buffy. Notes. Variously rendered poor-will, cow-day, pearl-rob-it, puir-whee-er. Range.—Western United States; breeds from Kansas, Nebraska, and Dakota west to eastern slope of Sierra Nevadas: north to Montana and British Columbia; winters from Mexican border southward. 418a. Frosted Poor-will (P. n. nitidus). Similar to [No. 418], but paler, the upperparts especially whiter, more frosty. Range.—"Texas to Arizona and from western Kansas south to northern Mexico." (Bailey.) Lower California. 418b. California Poor-will (P. n. californicus). Similar to [No. 418], but darker. Range.—Breeds on coast of California, north to Butte County; winters from southern California southward.