228 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



breeds throughout its range, depositing two eggs in open situations, 

 such as fields, etc., on the cold, bare ground, often among stones ; 

 scarcely a trace of a nest can be found where the eggs lay. They are 

 frequently deposited on bare rocks, and on the flat roofs of buildings 

 in large cities. Mr. Norris once found a set on the stump of a tree 

 about eighteen inches from the ground ; and a set in his cabinet was 

 taken from the gravel roof of a four-story building in the center of 

 Philadelphia. The Nighthawk and Whip-poor-will are often con- 

 founded or considered as birds of the same species. A careful compar- 

 ison with each other, or with the descriptions, will at once show a very 

 decided difference. The large, white patches on the five outer pri- 

 maries of the wings of the Nighthawk when flying, appear like tat- 

 tered holes caused by the shot from a gun. In the evenings of sum- 

 mer months great troops of Nighthawks may be seen high in air over 

 forest or town in search of insects, performing their wonderful evolu- 

 tions and uttering their peevish cries, or swooping down with their 

 strange booming or rumbling sound, they skim over the grassy mead- 

 ows. Thus they continue till the gloaming merges into darkness, 

 and their flight is seen no longer. 



The eggs of the Nighthawk vary from pale olive-buff to buffy 

 and grayish-white, thickly mottled and dashed with varied tints of 

 darker gray, slate, olive, or even blackish, mixed with a marbling and 

 clouding of purplish-gray ; the pattern and tints are very variable. 

 The shape is elliptical, and average size 1.25X.85. Six eggs measure 

 1. 24 x. 85, 1.27x87, i. 22 x. 83, i. 24 x. 86, i. 21 x. 82, 1.24x84. 



4200. Chordeiles virginianus henry i (CASS.) [3 5 7 a.] 



"Western Nightliawk. 



Hab. Western North America from the Great Plains to the Pacific, south to Mexico. 



A lighter-colored form of the Nighthawk, found in the unwooded 

 portions of Western United States. Its general habits, nesting, etc., 

 are the same as those of C. virginianus; the eggs average paler ; size 

 1. 20 x. 85. 



[4203.] Chordeiles virginianus minor (CAB.) [3570.] 



Cuban Nightliawk. 



Hab. Cuba, Jamaica and Southern Florida. 



A set of two eggs of this smaller Nighthawk, taken with the 

 parent bird by C. J. Maynard, on Merritts Island, May 8, 1886, are in 

 Mr. Singley's collection. The ground-color of these eggs is of a clear 

 grayish-white, evenly spotted over the surface with brownish and light 

 slate, so thickly as to nearly obscure the ground. The markings are 

 bolder and darker than those in a series of twelve eggs of C. virgin- 



