242 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



February 11th, 1878, the main body, however, not 

 arriving till the end of March. In certain spots in 

 Andalucia a very similar and closely-allied species, 

 the Pallid Swift, Gy^selus 'pallidus (Shelley), is abun- 

 dant in summer. The habits and manner of nesting 

 of this bird appear to differ in no respect from those 

 of the Common Swift; but the Pallid Swift is an 

 extraordinarily local species, and, although very 

 abundant at Gibraltar and Malaga, has not hitherto 

 been met with at Seville or, indeed, at Algeciras. 



105. NIGHTJAR. 



Caprimnlgus europceas. 



This bird, better known as " Goatsucker," " Night- 

 Hawk," and also often called " Fern-Owl," is by no 

 means common in the neighbom'hood of Lilford, 

 though of late it seems to be more often met with 

 than was the case thirty years ago. We have no 

 sandy heaths or pine-woods with patches of bracken, 

 such as these birds love, but in the few woods in our 

 locality in which there is any large quantity of fern a 

 pair or two of Nightjars may be generally found 

 during the summer, and a stray bird is now and then 

 to be seen in the Lilford plantations at that season, 

 but most of the recent occurrences of this bird with 

 us have been in the early part of September in 

 turnip-fields or on the roads, evidently on their 

 southward migration. In many of the southern 

 counties of England this bird is very common, and 

 we have often seen as many as a dozen individuals in 

 a summer evening's stroll in various parts of Devon- 

 shire, whilst the air resounded with their curious 



