WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 197 
until flushed, and then she crept back as often as she 
was driven away, all the time spitting like a cat and 
ruffling her feathers like an angry owl. I believe this 
was due to her courage in defending her young and not 
to any stupidity. The next day she had removed them, 
and we did not find them again. Other cases of as 
great courage on the part of both adults of this species 
I have noticed, and am sure that the Nighthawks are 
more devoted to their nests and young than any other 
birds I have studied. 
On the wing, Nighthawks are very sociable, circling 
in flocks and twittering after the manner of chimney- 
swifts, to which they are closely related, and uttering 
their characteristic “ boom” which has given them the 
name of “night jar.’ They seem always to be having a 
good time together, —a jolly good fellowship, as it were, 
—that fits in well with the joy of morning or the glory 
of evening. 
421. TEXAN NIGHTHAWK. — Chordeiles aculipennis 
lexvensis. 
Famity: The Goatsuckers. 
Length : 8.00-9.00. 
Adult Male: Upper parts dull mottled gray, streaked with rusty black ; 
chest and under parts barred black and light brown ; throat white ; 
a white band-like patch crossing wing; wing-coverts spotted and 
mottled with brown. 
Adult Female: Similar, but wing-patch buffy. 
Young: Finely mottled above ; under parts washed with pale red-brown. 
Geographical Distribution : Southern border of United States from Texas 
to Southern California, north to Utah, south to Cape St. Lucas. | 
Breeding Range: In California, the southeastern portion of the State. 
