34 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



Except for its nocturnal habit, it has little kin- 

 ship with the Owls. It is a late migrant from 

 Africa, rarelv reaching England before the middle 

 of May. Its eggs, two in number, and mottled 

 with brown on a white ground, are laid upon the 

 bare heath, and, as the illustration shows, there is 

 little or no nest of any kind. What virtue the 

 Nightjar finds in the particular spot which it selects 

 would be hard to discover ; yet, none the less, it 

 returns year after year, if undisturbed, to rear its 

 young on the same featureless patch. When scared 

 from its eggs, it flies but a little way and drops to 

 the ground, where its variegated dead-fern-like 

 plumage harmonizes so completely with the dry 

 vegetation around that it becomes w^ell-nigh in- 

 visible. 



A true fly-catcher, it is armed with curious bristles 

 at either side of the bill, which aid it in arresting 

 the flight of insects on the wing. 



