56 Capt. Blakiston on the Birds of the 



but the eggs lay where an old patch of buffalo-dung (which is 

 deposited similar to cow-dung in the fields of England) had been 

 turned over, and the ground for that space (say a circle of 15 to 

 18 inches diameter) was consequently bare of grass. Dr. T. M. 

 Brewer, in the 1st Part of his ' North American Oology/ notices 

 the great diversity of colouring in the eggs of the allied species 

 C. vii'ginianus or popetue ; and therefore I am not astonished at 

 the difference of M. Bourgeau^s specimens from those figured in 

 Dr. Brewer's plate. He, however, states that the number of eggs 

 is limited to two ; and therefore I wonder how it is that another 

 species so closely allied has been found with three. Let us 

 charitably hope that the Common Night- Hawk is sometimes 

 blessed with more than twins ; or, if not, we may advise her to 

 try a trip to the high western plains, where the invigorating air 

 of the trackless prairies may benefit her constitution. I am 

 sorry that the whereabouts of M. Bourgeau's collection is un- 

 certain, or I might have brought the eggs of C. henryi forward as 

 a novelty. With regard to the habits of the Western Night- 

 Hawk, I may observe that the first time I noticed it at Fort 

 Carlton, near the forks of the Saskatchawan, was on the 2nd of 

 June, when I shot one. On the same day I saw large congrega- 

 tions about the river valley, in one of which there must have been 

 from 80 to 100 individuals ; and as, previous to this, I was out 

 every day with my gun in search of birds, and did not notice 

 any, I concluded they were on their spring migration. Dr. 

 Richardson, however, mentions the Night-Hawk (C. virginianus ?) 

 at Great Bear Lake, some 800 miles further north, on the last 

 day of May. It was numerous at Fort Pitt, on the Saskatchawan 

 Rivei', at the end of June; and I found it on the eastern base of 

 the Rocky Mountains in August. As another proof to add to 

 those already known as to the misnaming of this bird Night- 

 Hawk, I may mention that at a small inland lake on the buffalo 

 plains I once saw half a dozen of them hawking about in company 

 with a number of Terns [Hydrochelidon -plumhea) in bright sun- 

 light. I see that Mr. A. Murray has called a specimen from 

 near Hudson's Bay C. virginianus ; and Mr. Bernard Ross says 

 that C. popetue ranges as far north on the Mackenzie as the Arctic 

 Circle. Both species may inhabit the interior, but I should be 

 inclined to think that western specimens were C. henryi. 



