RED-NECKED NIGHTJAR. 279 



are placed upon the bare ground amongst bracken or stones ; 

 the brooding bird, sitting closely, is their best protection. 

 They are seldom laid before the end of May, but I have once 

 known young hatched by the 15th of this month. The male 

 occasionally broods. The female will " squatter " away to 

 attract attention if disturbed, rolling and fluttering in a perfect 

 frenzy. When the down-clad young are hatched her excite- 

 ment becomes intense ; I have seen her sit on a bough with 

 outspread tail, sawing the air with her wings. The newly 

 hatched young are covered with vermiculated grey and brown 

 down, livid blue skin showing on the naked nape and back ; 

 the combed or pectinated claw of the adult, the use of which is 

 unknown, is represented by a horny unserrated plate. The 

 note is a querulous cheep. Quickly they become active 

 (Plate 115), and the parents soon remove them if the nest has 

 been visited. At times a second brood is reared. Emigration 

 begins in August, and by the middle of September most birds 

 have left. 



The plumage of the adult Nightjar is lichen-grey, barred and 

 streaked with buff, chestnut and black ; the under parts are 

 barred. White spots on primaries and white tips to the outer 

 tail feathers are characters of the male ; in the young male 

 these are buff. The bill is black, the legs reddish brown, the 

 irides almost black. Length, 10*5 ins. Wing, 7*6 ins. Tarsus, 

 75 in. 



Red-necked Nightjar. Caprimulgus ruficollis Temm. 



The Red-necked Nightjar, which occurs in Spain, Portugal 

 and Morocco, was obtained near Newcastle in 1856. It is 

 a larger bird than ours, is more rufous on the wings and under 

 parts, has a noticeable buff or tawny collar, and white marks 

 on the throat. Length 12 ins. Wing, 7-8 ins. Tarsus, -95 in. 



