EASTERN NIGHTHAWK 219 



The female of that year was the same bird that nested there in 1922. 

 The identity of the female was established by banding and also by 

 a slight deformity of the maxilla, the tip of which was broken off. 

 The males of the two broods were different individuals. 



The young were fed during the early morning before sunrise and 

 again in the evening after sunset. During the heat of the day, when 

 the temperature frequently went soaring above 110° F., the young 

 kept well concealed under the breast of the brooding bird in close 

 contact to her abdominal air sacs. When the temperature was less 

 torrid the young peeked their heads through the feathers and often 

 came out entirely. At such times they sometimes amused themselves 

 by picking at the mother's beak and rectal bristles. If the annoyance 

 became too great the female would thrust her head beneath her breast. 

 The young then proceeded to pick at the feathers of her crown and 

 nape. 



The female left the nest regularly about 8 : 30 p. m. (daylight 

 saving time) to obtain food for herself and young. In the case of 

 this brood the female delivered all the food required by the young. 

 The food was delivered by the process of regurgitation. The beak 

 of the female was thrust well into the large and widely distended 

 mouth of the young when the transfer of food was made. After 

 feeding, the adult brooded her young in the earlier stages of thei] 

 development. 



For the first three days the young remained near the spot where 

 they had been hatched, but on the fourth day after a heavy rain 

 they had moved to a slightly raised portion of the roof, which was 

 free from excessive dampness. The female never left the young 

 during a rain at this stage of their growth, even if it meant depriv- 

 ing them of food. The male regularly visited the roof early in the 

 morning and again in the evening throughout the breeding season, 

 but he was never seen to deliver food to the young. The male 

 was usually stationed on the roof when the female w^as away and 

 thus served as a watchdog in her absence. More than once he was 

 called upon to chase away a strange nighthawk that had inad- 

 vertently alighted in his territory on the high-school roof. 



On the fifth day (June 29) the young had wandered to the south- 

 ern end of the building where the shadow of the roof wall protected 

 them from the direct rays of the burning sun. The heat during the 

 middle of the day was frequently excessive. On Julj^ 7, when the 

 young were 13 days old, a thermometer placed on the gravel of the 

 roof registered 140° F. The heat was too much for one of the young, 

 which succumbed and was found dead near the middle of the roof. 

 Its fellow nestling, hidden in the shadow of the roof wall and be- 

 hind a clay ventilating pipe, escaped death but was in a serious con- 

 dition. A sponge soaked with cold water was placed near the 



