112 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



during flight, as are also the white tips to the outer- 

 most tail-feathers. This even applies to young 

 males in their first plumage, although the spots are 

 buff instead of white. It is possible that these mark- 

 ings are sexual recognition marks, enabling the 

 female to follow or discover the whereabouts of her 

 mate in the gloom. The Nightjar breeds in May 

 or June, a little later in the north than in the south. 

 It makes no nest, but the hen bird lays her two 

 curiously oval eggs on the bare ground, sometimes 

 beneath a spray of bracken or a furze bush, less 

 frequently on the flat low branch of a convenient 

 tree. These eggs are very beautiful, and he who 

 finds them cannot confuse them with those of any 

 other species that breeds in our islands. They are 

 generally white and glossy, the surface mottled, 

 blotched, streaked and veined with various shades 

 of brown and gray. The young are covered with 

 down — in this respect showing affinity with the Owls 

 — but are otherwise helpless, being fed by their 

 parents not only during infancy, but for some time 

 after they can fly. The old birds show great solici- 

 tude for them should they be disturbed, fluttering 

 round the intruder's head, and seeking to attract all 

 attention to themselves. The Nightjar leaves the 

 northern shires in September for its winter quarters 

 in Africa, although it is by no means uncommonly 

 observed quite a month later in the extreme south 



