Color Key to North American Birds Part 46

Family 1. GOATSUCKERS. Caprimulgidae. 6 species, 6 subspecies.

Family 2. SWIFTS. Micropodidae. 4 species.

Family 3. HUMMINGBIRDS. Trochilidae. 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 surpa.s.s 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 cla.s.sed as songs but our species utter only sharp squeaks and excited chipperings.

Goatsuckers

[Ill.u.s.tration: 416.]

=416. Chuck-will's-widow= (_Antrostomus carolinensis_). L. 12. Mouth bristles with fine, hair-like branches near their base. _Ad._ [Male].

End half of outer tail-feathers white, _rusty, and black on outer webs_; chin chiefly _rusty_; throat-patch buffy. _Ad._ [Female]. 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 417.]

=417. Whip-poor-will= (Antrostomus vociferus). L. 9.7. Mouth bristles _without_ branches. _Ad._ [Male]. 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._ [Female]. 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.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 418.]

=418. Poor-will= (_Phalaenoptilus nuttallii_). L. 7.7. Primaries _rusty_ barred with black. _Ad._ [Male]. Three outer tail-feathers _evenly_ tipped with white; a _large_ white throat patch; plumage above suggesting in color the wings of certain moths. _Ad._ [Female].

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 b.u.t.te County; winters from southern California southward.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 419.]

=419. Merrill Parauque= (_Nyctidromus albicollis merrilli_). L. 12; T. 6.2. Outer tail-feather without white. Two color phases, one gray, one rusty. _Ad._ [Male]. Outer tail-feather black with sometimes a little rusty, next feather white on inner web, third feather white except at base. _Ad._ [Female]. Outer tail-feathers brownish with broken rusty bars; next two with white at tip. _Notes._ A vigorous _ker-whee-you_ repeated and sometimes running into a _whit-whit-whit_, _ker-whee-you_.

Range.--Mexico north to southern Texas; winters chiefly south of Rio Grande.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 420.]

=420. Nighthawk= (_Chordeiles virginia.n.u.s_). L. 10; W. 7.8. Primaries blackish with a white bar and no rusty spots; darkest of our Nighthawks. _Ad._ [Male]. Above black with white and buff markings; throat and band near end of tail white. _Ad._ [Female]. Throat rusty, no white band in tail. _Notes._ A nasal _peent_; and in the breeding season, a booming sound produced by diving from a height earthward.

Range.--Eastern United States, chiefly, breeds from Florida to Labrador, west and northwest to northern California, British Columbia, and Alaska; winters south of United States.

=420a. Western Nighthawk= (_C. v. henryi_). Similar to No. 420, but markings above rusty and more numerous; belly washed with rusty.

Range.--Western United States, east to the Plains, wintering south of United States; exact distribution unknown.

=420b. Florida Nighthawk= (_C. v. chapmani_). Similar to No. 420, but smaller (L. 8.6; W. 7.1;) and paler; white and buff markings above larger and more numerous.

Range.--Florida, west along Gulf Coast to eastern Texas; south in winter to South America.

=420c. Sennett Nighthawk= (_C. v. sennetti_). Similar to No. 420b, but still paler, white and buff prevailing on back and scapulars; palest of our Nighthawks.

Range.--Great Plains north to Saskatchewan; winters south of the United States.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 421.]

=421. Texan Nighthawk= (_Chordeiles acutipennis texensis_). Wing quills _with_ rusty spots; outer primary shorter than one next to it; belly conspicuously washed with rusty buff. _Ad._ [Male]. Throat-patch and band near end of tail white. _Ad._ [Female]. No white band in tail. _Notes._ A mewing call and a tapping accompanied by a humming sound. (Merrill.)

Range.--Central America; breeding north to southern Texas, southern New Mexico, southern Utah, southern Nevada, and Lat. 38 in California; winters south of United States.

Swifts

[Ill.u.s.tration: 422.]

=422. Black Swift= (_Cypseloides niger borealis_). L. 7; W. 6.5. Tail without spines, slightly forked. _Ads._ Sooty black, paler below; a black spot before the eye; forehead whitish. _Notes._ Generally silent. (Bendire.)

Range.--Breeds from Central America north, in mountains of western United States, to British Columbia; east to Colorado; winters south of United States; more common in Pacific coast states.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 423.]