336 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



serious refutation It has at length been ascertained that our Swal- 

 lows pass the period of Winter at Honduras, myriads of them assem- 

 bling together at their roosting places, which are usually amid the 

 rushes of the watery savannas.* 



Chimney Swallow. This species is peculiarly our own ; and strongly 

 distinguished from all the rest of our swallows by its figure, flight 

 and manners. Like all the rest of its tribe in the United States, it 

 is migratory, arriving in Pennsylvania late in April, or early in May, 

 and dispersing themselves over the whole country wherever there 

 are vacant chimneys sufficiently high and convenient for their accom- 

 modation. The nest of this bird is of singular construction, being 

 formed of very small twigs, fastened together, not with the gum of 

 trees as is generally supposed, but with a strong adhesive glue, 

 which is secreted by two glands, one on each side of the hind head, 

 and mixes with the salvia. With this glue, which becomes hard as 

 the twigs themselves, the whole nest is thickly besmeared. The nest 

 itself is small and shallow, and attached by one side or edge to the 

 wall, and is totally destitute of the soft lining with which the nests of 

 the other Swallows are so plentifully supplied. The eggs are gene- 

 rally four, and white. They commonly have two broods in the season. 



Night-hawk. This bird in Virginia, and some of the southern dis- 

 tricts, is called a Bat ; the name Night-hawk is usually given it in 

 the middle and northern states. On the last week in April, the 

 Night-hawk commonly makes its appearance at Philadelphia. They 

 soon after disperse generally over the country, from the sea shore to 

 the mountains ; and are seen towards evening, in pairs, playing about, 

 high in air, pursuing their prey wasps, flies, beetles, and various 

 other winged insects of the larger sort. About the middle of May 

 the female begins to lay ; the eggs are placed on the bare ground, 

 are commonly two, of a dirty bluish white, and marked with innumer- 

 able touches of dark olive brown. 



The Night-hawk is a bird of strong and vigorous flight, and of 

 large volume of wing. It often visits the city, darting and squeak- 

 ing over the streets at a great height, and diving perpendicularly 

 with a loud booming sound, very much resembling that produced by 

 blowing strongly into the bunghole of an empty hogshead. This 

 noise is caused by the sudden expansion of his capacious mouth, 

 while he passes through the air. The female never precipitates herself 

 in the manner of the male. 



Whip-poor-will. This is a singular and very celebrated species, 

 universally noted over the greater part of the United States for the 

 loud reiterations of his favourite call in Spring ; and yet personally 

 he is but little known, most people being unable to distinguish this 

 from the preceding species ; and some insisting that they are the 

 same. We must refer the reader to Mr. Wilson's history of this bird, 

 wherein it appears that there has been strange confusion among 

 naturalists with respect to our three species of the Caprimulgus 

 genus, and in which it is satisfactorily shewn that this is a distinct 

 species. 



The Chuck-will* s-widow is rarely found to the north of James River, 

 in Virginia, on the sea-board, or of Nashville, in the state of Tennessee, 

 in the ulterior. It arrives on the coast of Georgia about the middle 

 of March, and in Virginia early in April. It commences its singular 



^Henderson's Honduras, p. 119. 



