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CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMON BIRDS. 



BY O. 8. ROUND, ESQ. 

 ( Continued from page 1.) 



The wings and tail of the Nightjar are very large for his size, and he 

 has a flapping way of flying, which gives the idea of a certain degree of 

 stupidity or helplessness; but this is a mistake, for it arises, I am con- 

 vinced, from the ease with which he flies, and partly, perhaps, the hour 

 at which we see him, for it must be still light, and therefore he has by 

 no means awoke from his day's slumbers, for there can be no doubt that 

 his powers of flight are very great, of which any one on a light night who 

 will take the trouble to watch him may be soon convinced. It is very 

 common to hear him called ugly, by reason of his large mouth and eyes, 

 but when he is really awake and alert, he does not deserve this character, 

 for instead of nodding head and half-closed eyes, he sits erect, constantly 

 looking round after prey, after which he dashes away like an arrow. His 

 colours are certainly unobtrusive, and well suited to his habits, for the 

 resemblance which he exhibits to the grey stones and moss among which 

 he sits is very extraordinary, and in the day-time you may stumble upon 

 him almost before he will rise, but he does not fly far, unless roused again, 

 and then merely skims away beyond reach. The cock and hen are very 

 similar in general appearance, but his wings and tail are garnished with 

 white spots at the ends of the outermost feathers, which shew very prettily 

 when he is on the wing; in the hen bird these spots are ochre-coloured. 

 Generally speaking, the Nightjar flies low, and will sit on gravel paths 

 watching for prey, rising, and catching, and settling again, but when he 

 makes a flit from cover to cover at any distance, I have seen him fly 

 very high and boldly. It is also his custom to rise almost perpendicu- 

 larly, and strike his wings over his back, after the manner of the Smiter 

 Pigeon. 



But the most singular attribute of the Nightjar is the loud noise he 

 makes when seated upon some elevated point, and which has procured him 

 the name of the "Night Rail." Almost every one knows the instances 

 Gilbert White gives of the vibration caused by this sound when uttered 

 by one of these birds, which was seated on the small cross of a wooden 

 summer-house, in which he and some friends were taking tea. I have 

 never had any similar proof of this, but I have got as near this bird when 

 uttering this sound as it is possible to approach any wild bird, namely, 

 under the very tree he was upon, and so loud did it sound, that I could 

 easily realize the fact of a hollow wooden edifice being actually shaken by 

 it, so as to cause a sensible vibration. I remember very well some years 



