BIRDS OF THE WEST 33 



ing star and as soon as the sound can reach you, you will hear a 

 noise like the blowing into the bung-hole of an empty barrel or 

 the bellowing of a distant bull. It is only the rustle of his wings. 



Do you think that these airy flights are ever equalled by the 

 bugs and flies ? It is doubtful. They go up there for the same rea- 

 son that a little boy climbs a hill in winter- time, just for the fun of 

 coming down ; for the same reason that a balloonist takes to his 

 parachute or the long-haired lady makes the high dive at the 

 circus. 



I have seen a bird perch within fifteen feet of me and for fif- 

 teen minutes turn little somersaults for no apparent reason but 

 my pleasure. It was no doubt its method of catching insects. I 

 will tell you about him later. He 's a sweet little bird, trimmed with 

 orange and his little wife has lemon-colored trimmings but she's 

 just as sweet. 



By day the nighthawk sits upon fence-rails as often as any* 

 where for they are nearly his color and he always sits his mount 

 lengthwise contrary to the custom of other birds, so that both his 

 color and position are nicely suited to prevent detection. They 

 build no nest, but two finely spotted eggs are laid usually at the 

 outer edge of a flat rock, and it is said that when disturbed, they 

 will carry their eggs away to a place of safety by grasping them in 

 their claws. 



It is quite a custom among birds that make little or no nest, 

 to lay sharply pointed eggs so that when the wind blows, their 

 eggs will roll about in circles and never be blown away, but the 

 nighthawk does not follow this custom as the quails and plovers 

 do, possibly because she trusts to removing them to a better pro- 

 tected home. 



No one should ever kill the little nighthawk (he's only half as 

 big as he looks) for he spends his time eating mosquitos and moths. 

 Why, that's the reason that he flies at eventide. Once in a while he 

 comes to town to gather the harvest of bugs that circle about the 

 electric lights. Pretty wise for a bird. 



