52 CAPRIMULGID^ : WHIPPOORWILLS ; NIGHT-HAWKS. 



the parents. We cannot endorse Mr. Minot's statement 

 that they " run about much like young partridges." 

 Only an apology for a nest is constructed — a slight 

 hollow in the mould of a fallen log or stump, or on the 

 ground among fallen leaves. The eggs are only 

 two, this being the usual number laid by birds of 

 this family. They are elliptical, and of delicately 

 marbled and clouded coloration, like the plumage of 

 the birds themselves. They measure about 1.25 X 

 0.85 of an inch, and are usually laid early in June, 

 when the birds are in full cry. The clamor continues 

 during the breeding season proper, after which the cry 

 is seldom if ever heard ; and this being the princi- 

 pal indication of the birds' presence, it is difficult to say 

 at what precise time they depart, so silently and furtively 

 do they slip away from our midst. The migration, how- 

 ever, is probably accomplished in September. Like the 

 rest of this family, the Whippoorwill is insectivorous ; 

 and numberless are the crepuscular and nocturnal insects 

 which fall into its capacious mouth, as into the wide open 

 jaws of a trap beset with stiff bristles to control the 

 struggles of the bird's unhappy victims. 



NIGHT-HAWK OR BULL-BAT. 



Chordediles popetue ( V.) Bd. 



Chars. Similar in general to a Whippoorwill ; no long bristles 

 about mouth. Wings long and pointed, much exceeding the 

 forked tail ; plumage more smooth and compact. Upper parts 

 blackish, mottled with brown, gray and tawny; under parts from 

 the breast white, barred crosswise with blackish and tawny. 

 Throat with a crescentic bar, white in the male, tawny in the 



