Egyptian Nightjar
Caprimulgus aegyptius Lichtenstein, MHK, 1823 (1, 0)
Photo © By "K K" - Contact us/Photo submission, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3940232
STATUS
Eurasia and Africa. Polytypic.
OVERVIEW
This is the first of only two records to date [2020]. The other occurred 101 years later, in the same month, at Portland Bill.
RECORD
1). 1883 Nottinghamshire Rainworth, shot, 23rd June, now at Mansfield Museum.
(J. Whitaker, Zoologist 1883: 374-375; J. H. Gurney, jun., Ibis 26: 173-174; J. E. Harting, Field 15th Sept., 1883: 393; O. V. Aplin, Zoologist 1884: 51; O. V. Aplin, Naturalist 13: 200; Whitaker, 1907; F. C. R. Jourdain, British Birds 26: 313; Birds of Nottinghamshire Report 2001: plate 16).
History J. Whitaker of Rainworth (1883) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. VII. pp. 374-375, undated, says: 'On the 23rd June last my keeper shot at a rabbit in Thieves Wood, near Mansfield, and at the report of the gun a Nightjar flew out of the edge of the wood. Its light colour attracting his attention, he fired his other barrel at it and brought it down. Thinking it only a young bird, he did not send it to me, but kept it two days in his house, and then threw it into the back yard, where it lay until the afternoon of the same day, hens, pigeons, and children in the meantime doing their best to spoil its appearance.
By good luck I went up to see him, and hearing that it was a light-coloured bird I went to look at it, and found what I thought was a pale variety of the Common Nightjar. I need hardly say how vexed I was that it had not been brought to me, but I cut off the wings and tail and brought them home.
On comparing them with Caprimulgus europaeus, I saw a striking difference, and sent back for the body, which my birdstuffer has contrived to make a skin.
I wrote to tell Mr. J. H. Gurney jun., and he at once replied, "Are you sure it is a variety? I think it is very likely from your description to be a Caprimulgus isabellinus, kindly lent by Mr. Seebohm. On comparing it with mine, it agreed in every way, both in colour and markings, as well as size; but the most striking point is that the tarsus is an eighth of an inch longer than in C. europaeus. This species has occurred in Heligoland, and is now in Herr Gätke's collection".
We have watched the place where my specimen was shot, but no other has been seen.'
J. H. Gurney, jun. (1884) in The Ibis, Vol. XXVI. pp. 173-174, says: 'On the 23rd of June, 1883 (as recorded in The Zoologist, p. 374), an Egyptian or Isabelline Nightjar (Caprimulgus aegyptius) was shot near Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, and is now in the fine British collection of Mr. Joseph Whitaker, who had it while still in the flesh.
Mr. H. E. Dresser figures two forms, the pale and the dark; the difference is but slight, but it is apparently to the dark form that Mr. Whitaker's bird belongs. Mr. Dresser says the range of the Egyptian Nightjar is not very extensive, Egypt and Nubia appearing to be its true home (Birds of Europe, IV. p. 629).
I believe I saw a good many in Egypt, but, strange to say, never shot one. From seeing them in April, evidently coming north with the migratory stream, I supposed them to be summer visitants; but as Mr. E. C. Taylor informs me of his having shot some in December 1853, and as I have lately seen an example obtained at Komombo on February 12th, 1882, by Mr. F. Worthington, it is quite evident that the species, though a true migrant, is found in Egypt at all seasons. How far south it goes is not known, but westwards Mr. Dresser mentions (l. c.) that he has identified specimens from Baluchistan and Turkestan. Strange to say, it has not been met with in Palestine, where, perhaps, its place is taken by C. asiaticus (C. tamaricis, Tristr.).
The European occurrences, previous to the Nottinghamshire specimen now recorded, are Herr Gätke's Heligoland example, obtained eighty years ago, on the same day but one as the English bird, and three specimens obtained in Malta in the spring of 1876, recorded in this Journal (Ibis, 1881, p. 192) by Prof. Giglioli, who adds that another was shot in Sicily by Baron O. Caruso.
Mr. Whitaker's bird makes the sixth European specimen, and adds a third species of the genus to the British list, the Red-necked Nightjar (C. ruficollis) having been already obtained here.'
J. E. Harting, Editor (1883) in The Field of 15th Sep., Vol. LXII. p. 393, says: 'The question "What Constitutes a British Bird?" is one upon which a difference of opinion exists. By some - in fact, by the majority of ornithologists - it is contended that that term can only be applied with propriety to a species which is a resident, a periodical migrant, or an annual visitant to the British Islands; while others consider that, if a species has only been observed or obtained here once, under circumstances favourable to the assumption that it has not been imported nor escaped from confinement, it is entitled to be enrolled at once on the list of British birds.
Although the former seems the more reasonable view to take, there is something to be said in favour of the latter....The species which is now claimed to be "a new British bird" is one which is most unlikely to have been imported, owing to the difficulty of keeping it alive in a cage; and, at the same time, its true home is so remote from the British Islands that it is hardly likely to occur here again, except by the merest chance, such as the accident of an adverse wind at the period of migration.
What claim, then, has such a species to be regarded as "British"? Obviously, a very slender one; and yet it could not be placed on the same footing with residents, or even with such species as are either periodical migrants or annual visitants.
The species referred to, and which is the latest claimant to a place in the list of British birds, is the Egyptian Nightjar (Caprimulgus aegyptius, Lichtenstein).
Mr. J. Whitaker, of Rainworth Lodge, near Mansfield, writing in September number of The Zoologist, states that a bird of this species was shot by his keeper on the 23rd of June last in Thieves Wood (an ominous name to poachers), near Mansfield. This bird was at first mistaken for a pale variety of the common European Nightjar, which (as most people know) is a regular summer visitor to this country; and under the misapprehension it was thrown aside by the keeper. Mr. Whitaker, however, rescued it just in time, and has taxed the skill of the bird-stuffer to preserve it.
The occurrence of the Egyptian Nightjar in England is the more remarkable, because it has only been met with once before in Europe, namely, at Heligoland, that extraordinary resting-place for migratory birds, where a specimen procured there in June, 1875, is preserved in the collection of Herr Gätke (see Ibis, 1877, p. 163)....As regards the Egyptian Nightjar recently shot in Nottinghamshire, its true home being so much farther to the south-east, it is more doubtful whether it will be again met with in this country.'
Oliver V. Aplin (1884) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. VIII. p. 51, under 'Note of some Rare British Birds in the Collection of Mr. J. Whitaker' says: 'Egyptian Nightjar.'
Seebohm (1884 (2): 315-316) says: 'I have carefully compared this example with a skin in my collection from Samarkand, and have not the slightest doubt either as to the determination of the species or of the identity of the specimen in Mr. Whitaker's collection with the bird shot by his gamekeeper.'
O. V. Aplin (1887) in the new series of The Naturalist, Vol. XIII. p. 200, under 'A Visit to Rainworth Lodge', says: 'The most remarkable among the historical specimens of British-killed rarities are examples of the Egyptian Nightjar, Thieves Wood, Notts., 1883.'
Whitaker (1907: 141-142) adds: 'Was shot by my keeper Albert Spinks. A stone now marks the place where it fell, and on it is inscribed: "This stone was placed here by J. Whitaker, of Rainworth Lodge, to mark the spot where the first British specimen of the Egyptian Nightjar was shot by A. Spinks, on June 23rd, 1883, this is only the second occurrence of this bird in Europe".'
F. C. R. Jourdain (1933) in British Birds, Vol. XXVI. p. 313, under 'The Whitaker Collection', says: 'In the collection there are also a number of rare British birds which have historical interest. Among them are the only British specimen of the Egyptian Nightjar (Caprimulgus aegyptius), killed by Mr. Whitaker's keeper at Rainworth on June 23rd, 1883....it is satisfactory to know that the Marshall Collection is now permanently housed in the Taunton Museum and the Whitaker Collection at Mansfield.'
Comment The specimen is now at Mansfield Museum, Nottinghamshire, with the Whitaker Collection. The commemorative stone has been replaced and is still there to mark the spot [2000].
