342 



THE NIGHTHAWK. 



passed up surmises to their motley companions. They all agreed it was a 

 What-is-it? and I did too; for the bird was so brown, or tawny, and showed 

 so little of the distinctive white spot on the wings, that it took all the morn- 

 ing to determine that it was really a young Nighthawk and not a Whip- 

 poor will. 



Both of these birds suffer somewhat from an unreasoning prejudice on 

 the part of both birds and men, occasioned perhaps by their long wings. I 

 have seen Robins pounce upon an unoffending Whippoorwill, and drive the 

 poor bird nearly distracted ; while everybody knows that the very name 



Photo by E. L. Scott. 



NIGHTHAWK'S EGGS, IN SITU. 



"hawk," however unreasonably applied, is enough to explode the cap on any 

 self-sufficient old musket. 



These Nighthawks are perfectly harmless except to moths, midges and 

 their ilk; and their uplifted wings half careened by the evening breeze, furnish 

 one of the most pleasing adornments of meadow and pasture. The birds 

 "quarter the air" in a bat-like flight of irregular zigzags, often pouting as 

 they go, Mizardmizard. They are not so strictly nocturnal as the Whip- 

 poorwills, but put a liberal construction on "twilight," being careful to avail 

 hemselves of all dark days, and in fact, moving about at will whenever the 

 sun slants fairly. During the mating season the males take great parabolic 



