NIGHT HAWK. 



49 



and field, is the certain accompaniment of the 

 dewy summer eve. What splendid powers of 

 flight these birds exhibit in their aerial gambols, 

 now mounting on steady wing till nearly lost to 

 sight, then rushing earthward headlong with a 

 boo7n that makes the whole field of air tremble ! 

 In these movements they are constantly in pur- 

 suit of insects, winnowing the thin air for the 

 glittering motes that sport in the last rays of the 

 setting sun. In late June they lay their grey 

 mottled eggs in wild stump lands, on the bare 

 ground, without the least sign of a nest. The 

 downy ■ young are found in such places without 

 the least protection, the picture of helpless desti- 

 tution. The quietness of the intelligent mother 

 and her ability at decoying seem to be their 

 protection, together with the fact that the appear- 

 ance of the young is exactly that of the fragments 

 of decayed and lichened wood among which they 

 are placed. The first weeks of September, Night 

 Hawks are seen in large flocks, sweeping quickly 

 past in the high air, the individuals of the flock 

 constantly crossing and re -crossing one another's 

 path. Now they are on the move to warmer skies 

 where insect wings forever glitter in the sunny air. 



