134 



Wild Birds 



one direction, now in another, and his pe-ur-note reaches a pitch 

 unknown before. Presently you hear a thud as if a clod of 

 earth had dropped. Then the mother bird, crawling over the 

 leaves, begins calling ke-ark I ke-ark ! This sound, however un- 

 couth to the human ear, corresponds to the cluck! of the hen to 

 her chicks, and awakens an immediate response in the young 

 Night Hawk. He does his best to go to his mother, but the 



obstacles being in- 

 surmountable, she 

 comes to him. She 

 is loaded with fire- 

 flies, 1 and as her 

 great mouth opens 

 you behold the wide 

 jaws and throat 

 brilliantly illumin- 

 ated like a spacious 

 apartment all aglow 

 with electricity. 

 With wings erect 

 and full-spread the 

 old bird approached 

 to within fifteen in- 

 ches of my hand, making an electric display at every utterance 

 of her harsh ke-ark I Then standing over her young, with raised 

 and quivering wings, she put her bill well down into his throat 

 and pumped him full. His down-covered wings were also 

 spread and a-quiver. In this position they remained interlocked 

 and silent for one or two minutes. When the feeding was over she 

 tucked the little one under her breast and began to brood. It 

 was not long before she was off again in the darkness, and upon 

 returning the performance was repeated, after which she settled 

 down to brood as if for the night. This young bird was fed 

 but twice each evening between the hours of eight and nine 

 o'clock, and always, as I believe, by the female. It is probable 

 that another feeding time also occurs at dawn. During the 

 1 Undoubtedly the little beetle Photinus pyralis. 



Fig. 82. The Night Hawk builds no nest, but lays its 

 eggs on the bare ground or rocks. 



