SONGLESS BIRDS. Nighthawk 



Many people are familiar with, the cry who have never 

 seen the bird itself; for Nature has taken great pains to 

 blend the colours of its plumage with the browns and grays 

 of the bark and rocks of the forest, and has given it the 

 unusual habit of sitting lengthwise on the branch when it 

 perches, so that it is invisible from below, and so closely 

 resembles the branch against which it is so flattened as to 

 escape notice. 



The Whip-poor-will prefers the forest solitude, but in his 

 nocturnal flights he often comes near houses, and sometimes 

 calls close to a window with startling vehemence. 



The breeding-habits of this strange bird are not the least 

 of its peculiarities ; when the ground-laid eggs are hatched, 

 they are beset by many dangers from weasels, snakes, etc., 

 but the young birds are almost invisible to the human eye, 

 even if their location is known. The female is very adroit, 

 and if she thinks her family has been discovered she will 

 move them to another place, carrying them in her mouth as 

 a cat does kittens. In fact, the Whip-poor-will is well pro- 

 tected both by nature and superstition ; the farmer knows its 

 value as an insect-destroyer, and the idle mischief-loving 

 class, who kill birds from pure wantonness, give it a wide 

 berth, as being the possessor of some occult power, akin to 

 the " evil eye," and associate its sudden cry with death or 

 calamity. 



Nighthawk: Chordeiles virginianus, 



Night-jar. 



Plate 44. 



Length : 9-10 inches. 



Male : Mottled black and rusty above, the breast finely barred, with 



a V-shaped white spot on throat. Wings brown and large, white 



spot extending entirely through them, being conspicuous inflight; 



white bar on tail. In the female, the white markings are either 



veiled with rusty or absent. 

 Note : A skirling sound while on the wing, — '' Skirk — S-k-i-rk ! " 

 Season : May to October ; common summer resident. 

 Breeds : Gulf States to Labrador. 



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