GOATSUCKERS 295 



pattering on the roof and their incessant calling. On several 

 occasions I heard a peculiar purring "aw-aw-aw-aw" accom- 

 panied by fluttering of wings in a tremulous way and scramblings 

 and slidings which indicated that two individuals were engaged 

 in the affair. 



During the daytime the birds roost preferably on the ground 

 in woods and thickets from which they are sometimes flushed, 

 not flying until nearly stepped upon. Occasionally one prefers 

 to roost on a rock or lengthwise on a large tree branch, but 

 this latter performance is more characteristic of the Nighthawk. 

 The rather thick woods about ponds and along streams are 

 favorite resorts of these birds, but they are locally plentiful in 

 rather high open second growth woods such as Woodcock and 

 Partridge often frequent. 



Observers in other states have reported that sets of eggs are 

 found in nearly the same locality or within a hundred yards 

 of the same spot for several successive seasons. They also say 

 that the first calls uttered in the evening before the birds have 

 taken wing are usually from somewhere quite near the nesting 

 site. The eggs, always two in number, are laid on the ground 

 among the leaves and pine needles, usually under a bush, in a 

 thicket or in rather open woods. Two eggs taken by a cor- 

 respondent at Redwing, Minnesota, May 18, 1895, measure 

 1.20 X 0.86, 1.15 X 0.85. The eggs are pure white in ground 

 color, marbled in a rather blurred fashion with lavender, lilac 

 and pearl gray, occasionally heavier marked with brownish 

 and drab. The eggs may be called decidedly handsome. Other 

 observers have stated that if the eggs were disturbed and left 

 the female would promptly remove them to another spot in 

 her capacious mouth, and there have been instances recorded 

 where the young birds were removed in the same way. 



In the summer twilight I have observed individuals perched 

 on the ground, on a fence or on the roof, calling vociferously, 

 occasionally hopping into the air to catch a moth or other 

 insect, and picking up similar material from the ground at 



