288 BIRDS OF THE NIGHT. 



tion has proved them to be distinct species. I believe 

 that some extraordinary pedant has also demonstrated 

 that they belong to two distinct genera. Let us take heed 

 that science do not degenerate, like metaphysics, into a 

 mere vocabulary of distinctions which only the mind of 

 a Hudibras can appreciate. The two birds, however, are 

 not identical. The Nighthawk is a smaller bird, has no 

 song, and exhibits many of the ways of the Swallow. 

 He is marked by a white spot on his wings, which is very 

 apparent during his flight. He seems to take his prey 

 in a higher region of the atmosphere, being frequently 

 seen, at twilight and in cloudy weather, soaring above the 

 house-tops in quest of insects. The Whippoorwill finds 

 his subsistence chiefly near the ground, flitting about the 

 farmyard, the fences, and wood-piles, and taking an insect 

 from a branch of a tree, while poising himself on the 

 wing like a Humming-Bird. He is never seen circling 

 aloft like the Nighthawk. 



The movements of the Xighthawk during his flight are 

 performed generally in circles, and are very picturesque. 

 The birds are usually seen in pairs at such times, but 

 occasionally there are numbers assembled together ; and 

 one might suppose they were engaged in a sort of aerial 

 dance, and that they were emulating each other in their 

 attempts at soaring to a great height. It is evident that 

 these evolutions proceed in part from the pleasure of 

 motion, but they are also a few of their ways during 

 courtship. While they are soaring and circling in the 

 air, they occasionally utter a shrill note which has been 

 likened to the word Piramidig, forming a name by which 

 the bird is sometimes called. Now and then they are 

 seen to dart with a rapid motion to take a passing insect. 



While performing these circumvolutions, the male occa- 

 sionally dives perpendicularly downwards, through a con- 

 siderable space, uttering, as he makes a sudden turn 



