132 Pictures of Bird Life 



of bracken or bit of open ground in a wood is often tenanted 

 regularly by Nightjars. I can generally find a nest, whenever 

 I want one, by knowing wliere to look. 



A Nightjar, when perched on a thick branch, always sits 

 lengthwise ; when on a thinner brancli, howe^'er, it adapts itself 

 to altered circumstances, and then sits across like other birds. 

 The lengthwise attitude, however, seems to be preferred ; for 

 I notice that, if the branch be of a medium tliickness, it 

 will sit diagonally across it — that is, as near to the lengthwise 

 position as possible. The ciu'ious churring noise only made 

 towards evenino- seems to be akin to the reelino; of tlie 

 Grasshopper-warbler, a vibratory sort of sound, difficult to 

 locate. It has a weird soimd as the darkness deepens and 

 the songs of other birds are hushed. It now rises and 

 falls, sometimes appearing to be close at hand, sometimes 

 far away. Presently tlie l)ird may be seen on the wing, 

 skimming across the glades of the wood, over which the 

 branches cast fantastic and grotesque shadoMs in the light 

 of the moon. If by chance the bird should settle near at 

 hand, you will be astonished at tlie strength and power of 

 the note, however it may be produced. The same thing 

 is very apparent with tlie Cuckoo's note. I have been 

 sometimes perfectly astonished at the powerful \ibrations 

 made by a Cuckoo which has settled close to me — one I 

 remember seemed to shake the tree in which it sat, a \'ery 

 large oak. 



As Howard Saunders remarks, the Nightjar is known in 

 every country in which it is found "by some name equivalent 



