110 BIRDS OF CHESHIRE. 
the summer months. In 1893, Coward heard one in 
Dunham Park on the 24th of April, an exceptionally 
early date. 
In Wirral the bird breeds. regularly in the fir-woods 
of Bidston, Storeton, Ness, and Burton, and on low 
heather-clad hills, such as those at Bidston, Caldy, and 
Thurstaston.! 
On the Plain the Nightjar is very common in Dela- 
mere Forest, frequenting the thickets as well as the 
open glades. When walking from Hatchmere to 
Mouldsworth on a June evening, we have heard the 
churring of as many as six separate birds. Beyond 
the confines of the Forest the bird nests on Helsby 
Hill and Little Budworth Common.? Before the re- 
clamation of the Moss it was abundant at Carrington ; 
and many pairs still nest in the plantations and the 
narrow belts of heath planted with birches which 
border the roadways. Nightjars also frequent patches 
of rough ground and open fir-woods in many other 
parts of the Plain. We have heard them at Lindow 
Common, Alderley Edge, Soss Moss Wood near Chel- 
ford, Marton, Mere Moss, the Moss Covert at Plumbley, 
Butts Clough near Ashley, Rudheath, Knutsford, Somer- 
ford, and in the parks at Tabley and Dunham Massey. 
The bird is generally distributed and fairly abundant 
in Longdendale and on the moorlands near Staley- 
bridge, as well as throughout the hilly country lying 
between the Goyt and Dane. 
In the summer of 1899, Oldham had several oppor- 
tunities of observing the behaviour of a couple of young 
Nightjars on Alderley Edge. The nestlings were dis- 
eovered by Mr. F.S. Graves on June 25th, when they 
1 Brockholes, op. cit. p. 10; Dobie, op. cit. p. 307. 
2 Dobie, op. cit. p. 307. 
