194 LAND BIRDS 
Although it may never have been heard before by the 
watcher, it may be instantly and instinctively recognized 
as it floats out of the deep ravine or from the darkness 
of the woods. 
420. NIGHTHAWK. — Chordeiles virginianus. 
(Common names: Bull Bat; Mosquito Hawk; Will-o’- 
the-Wisp.) 
Famity: The Goatsuckers. 
Length : About 9.00. 
Adult Male: Upper parts black, mottled with gray and buffy ; a white 
or buffy patch on the wing ; tail, except the middle feathers, banded 
with white near the tip; throat white; chest black; belly barred 
black and white. 
Adult Female: No white on tail ; otherwise like male. 
Downy Young: Covered with thin yellowish brown down mottled with 
darker. 
Young : Markings less distinct than on adults. 
Geographical Distribution: In California, the Transition and Boreal 
zones of the northern end of the State, and south through the 
Sierra Nevada; recorded during migration through the western 
valleys; south in winter to the tropics. 
California Breeding Range: Wooded districts of northern part of the 
State. 
Breeding Season: May 15 to June 15. 
Jest: None; eggs laid on the bare ground. 
Liygs : 23; vary from pale olive-buff to buffy and grayish white ; thickly 
mottled and dashed with varied tints of darker gray, olive, or even 
blackish, marbled, and clouded with lavender. Size 1.25 X 0.85. 
Wiru the exception of the Texan nighthawk the sub- 
species of nighthawks occurring in California resemble 
each other so closely that it is impossible to distinguish 
them without shooting, and their ranges overlap in such 
a way as to make locality an uncertain guide. Therefore 
only one species, Chordeiles virginianus, of which the 
