THE SWIFTS, WOODPECKERS, ETC. 193 



watched many of these birds with great care, by no 

 means a difficult business once the eye grows accustomed 

 to the half light in which they conduct their operations, 

 and, as their slow flight hid no movement from me, 

 I could be certain the bill was closed. I certainly never 

 witnessed the actual capture of a moth ; so that, for all I 

 know to the contrary, the bristles at the base of the bill 

 may assist in delaying the moth for a moment until the 

 bird swallows it. The note of the nightjar is a low vibrat- 

 ing " churr," and the bird has some slight power of ven- 

 triloquism. There is also a louder, harsher note that sets 

 the hearer's teeth on edge. It seems hardly necessary to 

 devote any space to the description of a bird that could 

 not by any possibility be mistaken for any other; but the 

 nightjar may always be recognised by the white spots on 

 the reddish wings and tail, and the remarkable head. The 

 bird has a jagged claw, the precise use of which, like the 

 spur of the beaver and platypus, has not been satisfactorily 

 determined. The food of this bird consists of insects, 

 chiefly moths ; and it is in the habit, like the owls, king- 

 fishers, swifts, and cuckoo, of ejecting the hard and un- 

 digested portions in the form of pellets. As already said, 

 the nightjar makes no nest, but lays its eggs in a slight 

 depression in the earth, usually near a clump of fern or 

 heather. Eggs, 2, i^ inch; yellowish white, with brown 

 spots. 



Red-necked Nightjar. Has straggled once to Newcastle 

 from Southern Europe. 



Egyptian Nightjar. Has straggled once from Africa to 

 Notts. 



3. THE WOODPECKERS. 

 [Three residents ; one summer visitor.] 



The Great Spotted Woodpecker, a rare bird nowadays, 

 is but a winter visitor to the greater part of Scotland and 

 to Ireland; indeed it is not known to breed in the latter 



N 



