Sactety for the Jirotection of Birds. 
EDUCATIONAL SERIES. Edited by H. E. DRESSER, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 
No. 8. —NIGHTJAR. 
By MONTAGU SHARPE, Depy.-Chairman Middlesex Q. Sess. and Cu Council, 
* While o’er the cliff th’awaken’d churn owl I hung 
Through the still gloom protracts his chattering song.” 
“GHLBE Rt WHITE. 
I. Name—NIGH TJAR. 
Family—Caprimulgide. 
Genus—Caprimulgus. C. europeus. Nightjar, Nighthawk, Fern Owl or Goatsucker. 
II. General Description and Proportions in inches. 
The feathers are of a greyish white, occasionally varied to buff, but generally nearly 
concealed with delicate pencillings of dark grey or buffy grey, and shaft lines and obscure bars 
of nearly black. The under side of the wing is of a lighter shade. The male bird is 
distinguished by white tips to the outside tail feathers, and by patches of white on the cheeks, 
throat, and wings. Tip of beak to tip of tail, 10; wing, closed, 7}; tail, 54; body, 45. 
III. Where, when, and in what Numbers found. 
England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Nightjar is more numerous in the South than in 
the North of England. It is not a gregarious bird, and is generally to be found amongst 
bracken, furze, and brambles on heaths, moors, or open spaces bordering on woods. 
It is one of the latest migrants to arrive on our shores, gener ally appearing in about the 
Tllustrations on pages 1 and 4, by ed permission e Mesem Gis & Teneo from “ Manel of 
British Birds,” by Mr. Howard Saunders. 
