Page:Notes on the Ornithology of Southern Texas.djvu/27

142 are various soft materials felted together ; a few hairs or a little wool form the lining; the rims are covered with lichens ; the cavity is slight, varying from .8 to 1.25 inch in depth by 2 in width, and the whole structure is easily overlooked. The usual number of eggs is three ; the ground-color is a rich creamy-white, with a ring of large brown and lilac blotches at the larger end. Fourteen eggs now before me average .73 by .54. A nest of this species, found May 19, 1877, contained a young Dwarf Cowbird and three addled eggs, which latter I removed. On revisiting the same nest ten days later, I found three fresh eggs, on which the female was sitting. As the young Cowbird could not have been fledged by this time, it would seem as if the Flycatchers, on find- ing that their eggs had been removed, had thrown out the parasite and laid again. — (P. rubineus, Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 475. — P. ruMneus mexi- canus, Sennet t, B. Eio Grande, 34.)

114. Ceryle alcyon, (Linn.)

Not common from October until April. — (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 471. — Sennett, B. Rio Grande, 36.)

115. Ceryle americana var. cabanisi, (Tschudi.)

Two specimens, obtained in May and October respectively. The scarcity of Kingfishers on the lower Eio Grande is doubtless due to the muddy water, that renders it difficult for them so see their prey. — (<7. americana. Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 472.)

Genus NYCTIDROMUS, Gould.

Nyctidromus, Gould, Icon. Av. II, 1838. (Type, N. derhyanus, Gould.)— Gray, List Gen- era B. ed. 2, 1841, 10; Gen. and Subg. 1855, 11; Hand-list, I, 1869, 60.— Gray & Mitch., Genera B. I, 1849, 48.— Cassin, P. A. N. S. 1851, 179.— Scl., P. Z. S. 1866, 144.— Scl. & Salv., Norn. Neotr. 1873, 97.— Boucard, Cat. Av. 1876, No. 2291.

EucapripoduSj Lesson, 1843 {fide Gray).

Lucapripodus, Lesson, 1847 (fide Gray).

Oh. — Similar to "Antrostomus ", but having the tarsus longer than the middle toe, and completely naked ; the tail about equal to the lengthened wing (instead very much shorter), and the third instead of the second primary longest ; lateral toes less than half as long as the middle toe, including the claw.

The characters given above are all that I am able to discover as distinguishing the present form from the species referred by most writers to the so-called genus Antrostomus, Gould. After very careful comparisons of species of true Caprimulgus (as restricted) with those of the so-called genera Antrostomus and Stenopsis, I am at a loss to find characters of generic importance between them. A. carolinensis, the type of the former genus, differs, it is» true, from all the others in possessing lateral filaments to the rictal bristles, while A. nuttalli is aberrant in other respects. There is such a difference in the details of form between almost every two species, however, that it is seriously questionable