xLin 



Night-Hawk; Bull Bat 

 420. Chordeiles virginianus sennetti 



The Night-hawk is ten inches long and has beautiful 

 gray and white-marked feathers, well adapted to blend 

 with its setting when nesting, as it does, on the bare 

 ground or on a rock. The eggs are stone gray. No 

 preparation is made by the bird for the comfort of the 

 two prospective young; the nest is just a bare spot on 

 the cold damp earth, where the surroundings are so 

 nearly the color of the setting bird that it is hard to see 

 or picture, so completely does the plumage mimic the 

 background. 



This bird in no way resembles a Hawk either in 

 actions or appearance : it has neither the grasping talons 

 nor the hooked bill of the raptores ; neither is it a bird 

 of prey. It is often mistaken for the Whip-poor-will 

 which it resembles in appearance, but not in habits. It 

 is a graceful, swift and sure flycatcher. Not even the 

 quick dragonfly can escape the accurate and vigorous 

 movements of the Night-hawk. 



From the bellowing-like noise produced by the air 

 rushing through its wings as it makes a lightning head- 

 dive from great heights, the bird is known as the Bull 

 Bat. With a frog-like mouth bordered by bristles and a 

 diminutive beak, it is a peculiar looking bird. It has not 

 a single bad trait and many useful ones. It should be 

 protected from ruthless slaughter. 



When the young first escape from the egg they re- 

 semble a miniature powder puff, or a bunch of rabbit *8 

 fur, and are colored so much like their surroundings 

 that they are hard to find, even after one has marked 

 their location. 



They are birds of wide distribution in the United 

 States, with similar traits, regardless of locality. They 

 have white identification marks on wings and tail, by 

 which they may be distinguished from the Whip-poor-will. 



136 



