OF NEW ENGLAND. 



297 



whit) and occasionally a rather harsh and guttural chatter. 

 Mr. Nuttall sa}^s that the }*oung have a low, mournful pe-ugh. 

 It is probable, at least in New England, that few or no super- 

 stitions are now attached to these birds. 



II. CHORDEILES 



(A) VIRGINIANUS. -Night "Hawk." "Bull-bat" 



(A common summer-resident throughout New England.) 



(a). About nine inches long. 

 Tail forked. Variously mottled, 

 or variegated. $ with a white, 

 and 9 with a reddish, throat-patch. 

 $ with both a white wing-patch and 

 white tail-spots. 



(b). The eggs, of which two are 

 here laid about the first of June, 

 are dropped upon rocks, upon the 

 ground, or occasionally upon a flat 

 roof. They have been found vari- 

 ously in cities, pastures, fields, and 

 woods. They are elliptical, aver- 

 age about 1-25 X '85 of an inch, 

 and are light gra} r , or brown, 

 thickly and finely marked with li- 

 lac, dark brown, and sometimes 

 slate-color. 



(c). The Night " Hawks " have 

 not been named altogether appro- 

 priately, for, though to a certain extent crepuscular (belonging 

 to twilight or dusk), they are not nocturnal. There is, how- 

 ever, a strong resemblance in their general method of flight to 

 that of certain hawks, as well as to that of the swifts, and the 

 latter part of their name is warranted by their general appear- 

 ance at a distance. They fly with ease, and sometimes, when 

 favored by a wind, with much rapidity. They often mount to 

 a great height, so as to be fairly lost among the clouds, and* 

 comparatively seldom skim over the earth, in the manner of 



Fig. 16. Night " Hawk 



