554 THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA THOMPSON. 



with a rattle, great force, and einpbayis, seems at half the distance from 

 you and not <inite the same direction as the lirst notes. 



On June 27, 1883, in the dry open woods to the south, I found the 

 nest of the whip poor will. The two young ones were cov^ered with yel- 

 low (hiwn, which made ihem very conspicuous on the dark leaves. They 

 wer(^ close to the base of a very large poplar and only 20 feet from an 

 oven bird's nest. I^To attem])t at nest building was observable. 



Tlie wliip-poor-wiil (Avlroslomus vociftrus) differs from its near relative, the uigbt- 

 hawk, in several particulars. It seldom leaves the woods and comes out onto the 

 open prairie; and even among the trees it is seldom or never seen sailing about high 

 overhead during daylight. It is also a mucb shyer bird ; and, although its highly 

 remarkable far-sounding voice may often be heard, it needs great caution to get 

 within a sufficiently short distance to see the performer. (Christy.) 



143. Chordeiles virginianns sennetti. Night-hawk. 



Very abundant summer resident. The type of this variety was taken 

 by the describer, Dr. Cones, on the boundary 50 miles west of Pembina. 

 I therefore assume this to be our only form. Pembina and westward 

 along the boundary to the Eockies (Cones). Winnipeg: Summer resi- 

 dent; abundant (Hine). Ossowa: Breeding (Wagner). Oak Point: 1884, 

 arrived May 25; 1885, first seen, one, on May 19 ; next seen on May 

 23 ; is common and breeds here (Small). Portage la Prairie : Abundant 

 summer resident ; arrives about May 20, departs about September 15; 

 in 1884, first seen May 27 (Nash). Abundant in the Northwest; speci- 

 men shot at Manitoba House, June 10, 1881 (Macoun). Carberry : 

 Abundant summer resident; breeding (Thompson). Dalton : First seen, 

 one, on May 27 (Youmans). Two Elvers: 1885, first seen, several, May 

 23; next seen. May 25; became common on and after May 27; breeds 

 here (Criddle). Shell Eiver : 1885, first seen, one, on May 23; next 

 seen, ten, on May 24; is common all summer and l)reeds here (Calcutt). 

 Qu'Appelle: (Jommon summer resident; breeds; arrives May 21 (Guern- 

 sey). 



On August 1, 1883, while in the eastern sand hills with Miller Christy, 

 we found the two young of a Night-hawk sitting on the bare ground 

 in the open. They seemed about 3 days old. On the tips of their beaks 

 were still the hard white points with which tliey are furnished to aid 

 them in chi])ping the shell. The old shells were lying around the nest, 

 as is the case with the Prcwoces, and but for these 1 should have passed 

 bj'^ the young ones, as they had squatted close to the ground and shut 

 their eyes, for the blackness an(l brilliancy of these would almost cer- 

 tainly have betrayed them. I gently touched one of them, whereupon 

 it crouched down more closely to the ground ; but its companion, rising 

 up, hissed with open beak and snapped savagely at my fingers. On 

 being further teased they ran off, exactly in the manner of young ducks, 

 with outstretched wings and with neck and body at an angle of 45 

 degrees. After running a few feet they stopped, squatted as before. 



