. Birds of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, a manual for the identification of species in hand or in the bush;. Birds; Birds. Wf 168 KEY AND DESCRIPTION of these birds will be seen in the early morning, flying ont from the chimney top, and starting on their day's work of ridding the air of flying insects. In the evening all will be found returning, a steady stream, into the same roosting place. When resting on the inner wall of the chimney, the spiny tail is used as a support, much as the woodpeckers use their tails against the bark of tree trunks. (Chimney Swallow.) • Length, 5
. Birds of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, a manual for the identification of species in hand or in the bush;. Birds; Birds. Wf 168 KEY AND DESCRIPTION of these birds will be seen in the early morning, flying ont from the chimney top, and starting on their day's work of ridding the air of flying insects. In the evening all will be found returning, a steady stream, into the same roosting place. When resting on the inner wall of the chimney, the spiny tail is used as a support, much as the woodpeckers use their tails against the bark of tree trunks. (Chimney Swallow.) • Length, 5 ; wing, 5 ; tail, 2 ; culmen, i. North America from the Plains eastward; breeding from Virginia to Labrador, and wintering south of the United States in Mexico. The White-throated Swift (425 Aeronaiites melanoleitcus) of the western United States from southern Montana to the Pacific is a blackish-backed, swallow-like bird, with a short, stiff, but not spiny-tipped tail, and most of the lower parts white; the male has the tail deeply notched. Length, 6|; wing, 6 ; tail, 2\. FAMILY XXI. GOATSUCKERS, ETC. (CAPRIMULGID,E). A family (nearly 100 species) of large, dull, mottled gray and brown, loose-plumaged, insect-eating birds which have enormous mouths, though the culmen or upper ridge of the bill is remarkably Their heads are pecul- H, (g) iarly large, broad, and flat, the legs small and weak, and the wings are rather long and pointed. They capture their prey while on the wing and, excepting during migrations, are solitary in their habits. The chuck- will's-widow has the widest mouth of any of our species; the gape measuring two inches from side to side. This enables it to swallow the largest of insects, and even hummingbirds and small sparrows have been found in its stomach. The night- hawks lack the rictal bristles which are so conspicuous in the other birds of the family. Our species are practically noc- turnal birds, as silent in their flight as owls. During the day
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1898
