EASTERN NIGHTHAWK 227 



ing experience he had at Springfield, 111., on July 29, 1923: "Mr. 

 R. B. Horsfall and I were walking along the margin of a small pond 

 when a nighthawk swooped down, touched the surface of the w^ater 

 and rose again; but we could not tell whether it was scooping up a 

 floating insect or a drink of water." 



Voice. — The nighthawk has no claim as a singer, but nevertheless 

 its notes are of great interest and attract fully as much attention 

 as the voices of our more gifted songsters. 



The loud piercing calls uttered by the nighthawk during flight 

 are simple yet, like all bird notes, extremely difficult to represent in 

 written words so as to enable a reader unfamiliar with them to 

 gain a clear conception of their character and quality. This fact is 

 at once emphasized if we compare the interpretations of a few of 

 the many authors who have attempted a written version of its calls. 

 For example to C. G. Abbott (1914) it sounds like a "grating 

 'beedz, beedz,' " and to Charles Bendire (1895) it is a querulous and 

 a squeaky note resembling "aek-aek, aek-aek" or "speek-speek, speek- 

 speek." W. E. Grover describes this note as a sharp "mueike"; and 

 E. H. Forbush (1907) states that "the note is s-k-i-r-k or s-c-a-i-p-e, 

 a little like the call of Wilson's snipe, — rather a startling squeak 

 when heard close at hand." W. L. Dawson (1903) interprets the 

 note as "mizard, mizard," and E. H. Eaton (1914) describes it as a 

 "loud nasal 'peent, peent.' " N. S. Goss (1891) writes that its voice 

 is a "squeak" or a "pe-up" note, and Arkansas Hoosier (1890) states 

 that "the note is best produced by speaking the word 'beard' in a 

 whisper." To G. R. Mayfield (1921) the call is a shrill "B-e-e-r-b" and 

 to H. Nehrling it is "Brirrr-brirrr." H. Tullsen (1911) interprets it as 

 a sharp penetrating "Spe-eak," and H. H. Bailey (1913) tliinks it 

 sounds like "Queek-queek." 



There was probably only the slightest variation in the notes of 

 the different nighthawks as heard by the authors mentioned above, 

 yet how strikingly different are the interpretations as represented in 

 the written or printed words. The note described above is the one 

 most frequently heard, and it is uttered independently of the seasons. 

 It is the note that announces the arrival of the nighthawk in spring, 

 and it is the call uttered at the time the nighthawks are congre- 

 gating in fall in preparation for their departure to the south, I 

 have been unable to ascertain whether this call is heard at their 

 winter home in South America. 



Frequently, during the courtship season, the males in their com- 

 petition for a mate vigorously pursue each other. At such times 

 both birds utter a series of sharply accented calls recorded in my 

 field notes as resembling Dick-a-dick-a-dick-dick-dick-dick-dick, 

 given in rapid succession. 



