Ornithological and Other Oddities 



side of the ship so closely as almost to brush it 

 with his wings, affording one an excellent oppor- 

 tunity of examining the exquisite markings of 

 his pencilled and stippled plumage of grey, buff, 

 black, and brown ; while, on one occasion, I even 

 saw the bird fly under the awning and poise for 

 an instant on an unconscious passenger's head ! 

 I have seen another species also approach a ship 

 at sea, and I do not understand why these birds 

 of night should thus be on the wing in open 

 day, unless in their journeys they abandon their 

 darkling habits. 



A late arrival with us — for he must wait till the 

 larger insects, his special prey, begin to fly — the 

 night-jar does not breed till summer is fully come, 

 but then he needs so little domestic preparation. 

 No nest at all is built, but the two beautiful eggs, 

 tinted-white with marblings of brown or faded 

 mauve, are laid on the ground, where the wonder- 

 ful protective colouring of the brooding bird is 

 their safeguard while the parent sits, and their 

 own extraordinary resemblance to pebbles is 

 supposed to avail them in her absence. 



The night-jar's newly-hatched little ones, two 



pinches of mottled fluff, harmonise better with 



the same surroundings, and when, after three 



weeks, their plumage has well covered them, they 



begin to present the kind of " find the policeman" 



puzzle so commonly exhibited by photographs of 



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