THE WESTERN NIGHTHAWK. 409 
numbers to a given spot. I have seen scores at a time winging noiselessly to 
and fro over the tranquil waters of Brook Lake, and once I saw a company 
of not less than two hundred executing a grand march with bewildering 
evolutions, in a Yakima pasture. The date in the last-mentioned instance 
was August roth, and it is more likely that the birds had discovered some 
notable event in the insect world, than that they themselves were preparing 
to migrate. 
The eggs of the Nighthawk are heavily mottled with slaty and other 
tints, which render them practically invisible to the searching eye, even tho 
they rest upon the bare ground or, as oftener, upon an exposed lava ledge. 
Except during the very warmest hours (when the sun’s rays might addle 
them) and the coolest (when they might become chilled), the sitting bird 
is likely to rest beside her eggs instead of on them. The young birds when 
hatched place great reliance upon their protective coloration, and even permit 
the fondling of the hand rather than confess the defect of their fancied 
Taken near Spokane. Telephoto by W. H. Wright. 
WESTERN NIGHTHAWK AT MIDDAY. 
security. The old bird, meanwhile has fluttered away over the ground with 
uncertain wing and drooping tail to drop at last on the very point of death. 
Or failing in this ruse, she is charging about in mid air with plaintive cries. 
Look upon the babies for the last time, for they will be spirited away before 
your return,—borne off, it is said, between the thighs of the parent bird. 
