Part 17

Eggs are laid on heavy leaf-litter, usually under shrubby cover.

=Whip-poor-will=: Caprimulgus vociferus vociferus Wilson.--This is a local summer resident in woodland in eastern Kansas. Breeding records are available only from Doniphan, Leavenworth, and Douglas counties; there are sight records in summer from Shawnee County.

Breeding schedule.--Two records of breeding cover the period May 21 to June 20.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.

Eggs are laid on heavy leaf-litter in shrubby cover.

=Poor-will=: Phalaenoptilus nuttallii nuttallii (Audubon).--This is a common summer resident in western Kansas, in xeric, scrubby woodland. Breeding records are chiefly from west of Riley County, but there is one from Franklin County; specimens taken in the breeding season are available from Doniphan, Douglas, Anderson, Woodson, and Greenwood counties.

Breeding schedule.--Six records of egg-laying are from the period May 1 to June 20.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.

Eggs are laid on the ground, with or without plant cover.

TABLE 12.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT CAPRIMULGIDS AND APODIDS IN KANSAS

==================+==========================+============================ | Arrival | Departure SPECIES +----------------+---------+------------------+--------- | Range | Median | Range | Median ------------------+----------------+---------+------------------+--------- Chuck-will's-widow| Apr. 20-May 1 | Apr. 28 | Oct.-Dec. | Oct. ? Whip-poor-will | Apr. 6-Apr. 25 | Apr. 17 | Sept. 10-Oct. 11 | Sept. 21 Poor-will | Apr. 12 | ... | Sept. 20 | ... Common Nighthawk | Apr. 29-May 23 | May 15 | Sept. 13-Oct. 18 | Sept. 23 Chimney Swift | Apr. 2-Apr. 30 | Apr. 22 | Sept. 18-Oct. 30 | Oct. 4 Ruby-throated | | | | Hummingbird | Apr. 2-May 19 | May 6 | Sept. 3-Oct. 15 | Sept. 10 ------------------+----------------+---------+------------------+---------

=Common Nighthawk=: Chordeiles minor (Forster).--This is a common summer resident throughout Kansas. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 11. Three subspecies reach their distributional limits in the State, C. m. minor (Forster) in northeastern Kansas, C. m. chapmani Coues in southeastern Kansas, and C. m. howelli Oberholser west of the Flint Hills.

Breeding schedule.--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period May 11 to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is June 10 (Fig. 5).

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.

Eggs are laid on the ground in rocky or gravelly areas, on unpaved roads, or on flat, gravelled tops of buildings of man.

=Chimney Swift=: Chaetura pelagica (Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident in eastern Kansas, around towns. Temporal occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 12.

Breeding schedule.--Thirty-six records of breeding span the period May 11 to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is May 25 (Fig. 5).

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs.

Nests are secured by means of a salivary cement to vertical surfaces, usually near the inside tops of chimneys in dwellings of man, but occasionally in abandoned buildings and hollow trees.

=Ruby-throated Hummingbird=: Archilochus colubris (Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, and is rare in the west, in towns and along riparian vegetation. Temporal occurrence in the State is listed in Table 12.

Breeding schedule.--Eight records of breeding fall within the period May 21 to July 10; there seems to be a peak to laying in the last third of June. Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.

Most nests are on outer branches of shrubs and trees, in forks or on pendant branches, 10 to 20 feet high.

=Belted Kingfisher=: Megaceryle alcyon alcyon (Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common throughout the State in streamside and lakeside habitats. Timing of arrival and departure of the breeding birds is not well-documented owing to the fact that the species is also transient and a winter resident in the State.

Breeding schedule.--Eggs are laid at least from April 21 to May 20.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is near 6 eggs.

Eggs are laid on the floor of the chamber at the inner end of a horizontal tunnel excavated in an earthen bank. The tunnel is two to six feet long and many tunnels are strewn with bones and other dietary refuse.

=Yellow-shafted Flicker=: Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus).--This is a common resident and summer resident in eastern Kansas, meeting, hybridizing with, and partly replaced by Colaptes cafer westward, in open woodlands. C. a. auratus (Linnaeus) occurs in southeastern Kansas, and C. a. luteus Bangs occurs in the remainder, intergrading west of the Flint Hills with C. cafer.

Breeding season.--Forty-eight records of breeding span the period April 11 to June 10; the modal date for egg-laying is May 10 (Fig. 5). This sample is drawn from central and eastern Kansas, but includes records of breeding by some birds identified in the field as C. cafer.