278 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



plumage ; it is most difficult to detect, looking like a bit of 

 lichen-covered twig or fragment of bark. With eyes almost 

 closed it watches through tiny slits, rising suddenly, sometimes 

 with a croak of alarm, but usually silently, when we almost 

 tread upon it. Its rounded head and short beak, together with 

 its mottled dress, give it a peculiar reptilian appearance ; little 

 wonder that one of its names is *' Flying-toad." " Night-hawk" 

 and "Fern-owl" are names derived from its habits, "Dor- 

 hawk" and "Moth-owl" from its food. Its weird nocturnal 

 note and silent ghostly flight have earned from the superstitious 

 the name " Lich (corpse) Fowl " and " Puckeridge," and 

 " Goatsucker " is due to wholly erroneous notions of its inten- 

 tions when flying amongst animals. V/hen on the wing it has 

 a soft call co-ic, and a sharper and repeated alarm, quik^ quik, 

 qnikj but during courtship, and occasionally at other times, it 

 uses a mechanical signal, a sharp cracking sound. Though 

 almost universally stated to be caused by clapping the wings 

 together over the back, I cannot believe that the soft feathers 

 of either this bird or the Short-eared Owl, which produces a 

 similar note, can make a clapping sound. The wings are raised 

 vertically and brought smartly down ; the crack, I am sure, is 

 similar to that of a whip-lash. The male may be told from the 

 female by the white spots on his wings and tail, and as he 

 gracefully floats above her, with wings upraised at a sharp 

 angle, he spreads wide his tail to show the white spots. I have 

 heard him whistle softly to the female, who replied with a 

 similar note. On the ground both birds will swing the tail 

 from side to side when excited. The Nightjar does not hunt 

 v/ith open mouth, as often depicted, but the huge gape opens 

 wide for large insects, such as noctuid moths and dor-beetles, 

 which are snapped up with avidity. Crepuscular insects are its 

 food. 



No nest is made ; the twg elongated and elliptical eggs, 

 creamy white mottled with brown, purple and liver (Plate 118), 



