GOATSUCKERS 



173 



Like the \\'hip-])oor-will, the NighthawU has 

 always been counted a ninre or less mysterious, 

 not to say uncanny, l>ii(l. The term, " Night- 

 jar," as applied to the family, has sonic justifica- 

 tion in the case of the Xighthawk. for the bird's 

 note certainly is not melodious, lint the term 

 " hawk " is misleading, since the bird is in no 

 sense a Hawk, but in reality is a flycatcher, and 

 a very industrious and useful one. Indeed, the 

 Nighthawk couldn't be a Ha\\l< if he wanted to 

 be (and he never shows any such dis]30sition), 

 because instead of the ])owerful talons of the 

 birds of prey, he has feet which arc almost 

 rudimentary in their weakness, while in place 

 of the meat-hook-like beak of the true I lawk, 

 he has a short, weak bill and a mouth which is 

 grotesque in its huge proportions. 



Still another misnomer a])])lied to this bird, 

 and one almost as absurd as " Goatsucker," is 

 " Bull-bat," the name by which he is commonly 

 known in the South, and the justification for 

 which remains one of the profound mysteries 

 of popular nomenclature. To be sure, the bat 

 has wings and flies, but right there its outward 

 resemblance to a bird, of any kind, ceases 

 abruptly, and it begins to look more like a rat 

 than any other creature. To call the bat a 

 " flying rat " would be much more sensible than 

 it is to call the Xighthawk a " Bull-bat," for the 

 rat and the bat at least belong to the same great 

 class, the mammals, while the birds comprise a 

 totally different one. 



On the other hand, it seems strange that the 

 makers of jiopular names should have entirely 

 overlooked this bird's various and marked 

 eccentricities. Appearing in the skies commonly 

 in the early evening ( for his activities are chiefly 

 at the twilight hours), his flight is erratic, as 

 if he were bewildered, and is punctuated by 

 frequent repetitions of a short, nasal, and 

 utterly unmusical call, usually uttered at the 

 termination of fluttering dashes upward. His 

 great flight performance, however, is his as- 

 tonishing aerial dive, generally from a height of 

 several hundred feet to within a few feet of the 

 tree-tops or the house-tops or terra firina itself. 

 It is preceded by no unusual evolutions that are 

 discernible, though it is executed at fairly regular 

 intervals and usually from a considerable altitude. 

 Having reached a proper height by his char- 

 acteristic fluttering flight, the bird suddenly 

 almost closes his wings and takes his down- 

 ward, almost perpendicular plunge, the swiftness 

 of which rapidly accelerates until a fairly dizzy- 

 ing speed is attained. The dive continues until 

 the bird seems to be within a few feet of the 

 tree tops or ground, when a sudden spreading 



of the wings checks the descent and the diver 

 swee])s easily and gracefully U])ward to renew 

 his a[)i)arently aimless wanderings. 



Much foolish mystery and needless misunder- 

 standing has prevailed concerning the origin of 

 the booming souml which is heard when the 

 Xighthawk checks his dive and sweeps upward. 

 An a])i)arent misapprehension on the subject is 

 suggested by part of the bird's scientific name. 

 Chordcilcs, which is derived from the two Greek 

 words, chorde meaning " a stringed instrument," 

 and dcilc, meaning " evening." This seems to 

 be in reference to the popular notion that the 

 white spots seen in the wings of the bird when 

 it is overhead are holes, and that the sound 

 referred to, and which might be imagined to 

 resemble the lowest notes obtainable on a bass- 

 viol, is caused by the passage of the air through 

 these holes. Again, the sound by many is be- 

 lieved to be vocal in its origin. As a matter of 

 fact, it is due solely to the rush of the air through 

 the taut feathers of the partly spread wings, in 

 which, of course, any orifice would greatly 

 impede the bird's flight. 



The purpose of this thrilling high-dive is not 

 apparent. The suggestion that it is a sexual 

 demonstration is not wholly credible, for the 

 reason that it is often executed by an individual 

 bird with no other member of the species in 

 sight, whereas the characteristic sex demonstra- 

 tion is performed by the male in the presence of 

 the female. Perhaps it is a plunge after a fly 

 or a beetle, though it seems unlikely that the 

 bird could descry an insect at the distance cov- 

 ered by the fall, and it could have no reason for 

 continuing the descent after the prey had been 

 captured. Many another bird would be accused 

 of taking this grand tumble for the fun of it, 

 hut a sense of humor seems very foreign to the 

 Nighthawk. 



An old delusion — which is still a belief of 

 many ignorant people, especially in the South — 

 is that the Nighthawk and the Whip-poor-will 

 are identical. There is, indeed, some superficial 

 resemblance between the birds, and they have 

 the common habit of perclnng lengthwise on a 

 limb or fence-rail ; but actual comparison of them 

 reveals marked differences, as to both size and 

 coloration. The most conspicuous of the dis- 

 tinguishing marks of the Nighthawk are the 

 plainly marked white wing-bars, which are to 

 be seen clearly from below, and which the \Miip- 

 poor-will lacks. The Whip-poor-will further- 

 more is essentially a bird of the woods, and does 

 not — at least before nightfall — go hawking 

 around in the open after the somewhat crazv 

 manner of the Nighthawk. Close comparison of 



