179 



dykes ; but he regarded its appearance in Shetland as merely accidental. 

 In Ireland this bird is considered to be a regular summer visitant to 

 favourite localities in all quarters of the island, but of rare occurrence 

 elsewhere. There are a few to be found in this district every season. 



I once had the good fortune to find a Nightjar's nest myself, on a 

 place called Moss Hills, at the south-east end of Shoulthwaite Moss, 

 and about a quarter of a mile from the high road to Windermere. The 

 nest, of a very shallow basin shape, was close to, and partially under, a 

 heather bush, apparendy for protection from the south-west storms. The 

 ground in the immediate vicinity of the nest was wild, heathery, and 

 broken, and partially covered over with ferns. In the nest were two 

 young ones, about half fledged. Their appearance was singularly ugly, 

 on account of their enormous mouths and large prominent eyes, which 

 gave them an expression almost repulsive. I paid a good many visits to 

 the two young Nightjars, but only on one occasion did I see the old bird, 

 which flew from the nest, or near it. I could not be certain, but I fancy 

 it had been feeding the young. Any fine calm summer evening, especi- 

 ally a moonlight one, if walking along the main road at the foot of the 

 moss, one is almost certain to hear the whirring note of a Nightjar. I 

 have on different occasions, on a moonlight night, about half-past nine 

 o'clock, heard the whirring note, as if it were close over my head, and 

 the next few seconds it sounded half a mile distant ; but this was o^\^ng 

 to the fact of the bird being a sort of ventriloquist, and the sound seems 

 to come from different places, because the bird turns its head from side 

 to side, and both up and down, and scatters, as it were, the notes on 

 every side, so that one is quite puzzled sometimes to know where the 

 bird is. I have stood and listened several times, but have never been 

 fortunate enough to see one of these birds at night. 



Notwithstanding what has been said to the contrary, the Nightjar, 

 Night-hawk, Fern Owl, or Goatsucker, as it is variously called in different 

 parts of the country, is one of the most inoffensive birds imaginable. By 

 farmers it is accused of robbing cows and goats of their milk, and by 

 keepers it is remorselessly shot as "vermin"; but by both classes its 

 character is much maligned. In its feeding it is purely insectivorous, and 



