A PAIR OF NIGHT-HAWKS. 135 
DOE 
A PAIR OF NIGHT-HAWKS. 
HE night-hawk and the whippoorwill are often 
confounded by persons of inaccurate habits of 
observation. It is true, both birds are members of 
the goatsucker family; but they belong to entirely 
different genera, and are therefore of much more 
distant kin than many people suppose. ‘The whip- 
poorwill is a forest bird, while the night-hawk pre- 
fers the open country. Besides, the whippoorwill 
is decidedly nocturnal in his habits, making the 
woods ring at night, as every one knows, with his 
weird, flutelike melody ; whereas the night-hawk is 
a bird of the day and evening. Then, a peculiar 
mark of the night-hawk is the round white spot on 
his wings, visible on the under surface as he per- 
forms his wonderful feats overhead, —a mark that 
does not distinguish his woodland relative. 
As a tule, the gloaming is the favorite time for the 
night-hawk’s wing-exercises ; then he may be seen 
whirling, curveting, mounting, and plunging, often at 
a dizzy height, gathering his supper of insects as he 
flies; but his petulant call is often heard at other 
hours of the day, perhaps at noon when the sun is 
shining with fierce warmth. Even during a shower 
