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.