4oS 



I1-: WESTERN' NIC.inil%\\K. 



'•uv i>t till- iinot ]>lca>iiij; adiiniiiuiits '>f Inwlaml meadow (»r sagc-cuvcrcil 

 upland. The birds ■■i|iiaiifr the air" incessantly in a l>at-like Hight <if irregular 

 zigzags, often jmuting as tliev gu, bnyanl - bnynrd. They arc not so strictly 

 nocturnal as the r>M>r-\\i!l>. hut put a liheral construction . m "iw iliijht." l)ciiig 

 care f u i to 

 a vail them- 

 selves of all 

 cloiuly days, 

 and. in fact, 

 moving about 

 at will when- 

 ever the sun 

 slants fairly. 

 The m i il d I e 

 hours of the 

 day are spent 

 u p o n t li I- 

 ground, whore 

 tiieir neutral 

 tints serve a 

 l)rotcctive ])in"- 

 IK)sc and arc 

 almost implic- 

 itly relied on. 

 During the 

 mating season 

 the males take 

 great i)ara- 

 Ix^lic headers 

 in t h e air. 

 r e I u r u i n ii 

 sharply a n <1 

 producing a 

 loud boom- 

 ing (/(Jti'-Tf — 

 whether by the 

 rushing of ;iir 



thru the wings or across the opened month, will, perhaps, never be dc 

 termined. 



During migrations scores of these birds are sometimes seen moving aloft 

 in loose arrav and. customarily at this season, silent. While not at any time 

 strictlv gregarious, favorable conditions are likely to attract considerable 



KCr.S OF WKSTKRN NH.IITM.VW K. IN SITf. 



