66 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



To cap the pathetic story, and to lend the necessary touch 

 of drama, it was beHeved that the goat then went stone 

 bUnd and died ! In many parts of the country it is still 

 thought by simple people that these birds are guilty of 

 imposing upon the hospitality of cattle, just as the hedge- 

 hog is credited with the same act. In both cases the 

 explanation is somewhat similar. The hedgehog is an 

 insect feeder, and insects are attracted or disturbed by 

 cattle. Also the hedgehog is a great lover of warmth, 

 and may actually have been found reclining against a 

 drowsing cow. The nightjar is fond of hawking for 

 insects in the neighbourhood of browsing cattle, and its 

 repeated appearance there has given rise to false impres- 

 sions in the ignorant mind. Moreover, the curiously 

 formed mouth of the nightjar had probably done a good 

 deal to strengthen the belief. 



I have many times watched these birds hawking for 

 insects in the dusk of evening, and certainly they are a 

 joy to behold. Their flight is strangely erratic, though 

 swift and in a sense powerful. Each nightjar has its 

 favourite perch, to which it returns at intervals like a 

 flycatcher, and resting there, lengthwise with the bough, 

 it utters its strange churning song, from which doubtless 

 it has obtained its name of churn owl. Like the buzzard, 

 this bird has a curious, hovering method of descent, 

 coming to earth with both wings extended vertically 

 above its back. 



As in the case of the drumming of the snipe, we have 

 in the flight of the nightjar an example of '* sound com- 

 munication " which is not vocal. In bird and animal 

 life a means of sound communication over and above 

 the ordinary cries of alarm, of joy, of despair, and so on, 

 are more or less rare. We have them in the thumping 

 of the rabbit, which conveys the warning to those under- 

 ground as well as to those feeding on the greensward ; 



