COMMON NIGHTJAR. 177 



Family CAPRIMULGID.-E. Genus Caprimulgus. 



COMMON NIGHTJAR. 



Caprimulgus europ/eus, Linnceus. 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, May and June. 



British breeding area : In districts suited to its 

 requirements the Nightjar is very widely distributed 

 throughout the British Islands, with the exception of 

 the Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. It 

 is certainly most abundant in the southern counties of 

 England, and in Ireland is commonest in the central 

 and southern districts. 



Breeding habits : The Nightjar is one of the very 

 latest of our summer migrants, not reaching the British 

 Islands until nearly the middle of May. Its breeding- 

 haunts are on commons and heaths, the rough bracken- 

 and bramble-clothed outskirts of forests, open places in 

 large woods, and spruce and fir plantations, large gorse 

 coverts, and the vicinity of old sand-pits and stone- 

 quarries. It is most probable that the Nightjar pairs 

 for life, and yearly resorts to one particular place to 

 breed. It is not in any sense a gregarious bird, although 

 in suitable localities several may often be seen in the air 

 together, and a few pairs frequently breed within a small 

 area of ground. The Nightjar makes no nest of any 

 kind, the eggs being laid on the bare ground, sometimes 

 on the fallen trunk of a tree, or at the foot of a gorse- 

 bush, or even on stone-heaps. Frequently enough the 

 eggs are found resting in a little hollow, but this is 

 either selected ready-made, or formed by the constant 

 sitting of the brooding bird in one spot. The Nightjar 

 is a remarkably close sitter, as is the universal custom 

 of all birds whose plumage is of a protective hue, remain- 



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