1/2 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



NIGHTJAR. 



Caprimulgus Europceus ; Engoulevent ordinaire ; 

 Nachtschwalbe; Tagschlafer. 



Fern Owl ; Churn Owl ; Goat-sucker ; Dor Hawk. 



Bill, legs, and claws, brown ; middle claw, " pecti- 

 nated," or " comb-like ;" plumage, generally a greyish- 

 brown, delicately traced and shaded ; white spots on the 

 wings of the male. Length, about ten inches and a half. 



The Nightjar is to my mind one of the most interest- 

 ing birds in the country. Few, indeed, save the ornitho- 

 logist, are aware of its presence ; and hardly anyone 

 could imagine, without some information on the subject, 

 that the strange, weird sound which often breaks the 

 stillness of the summer night in different parts of the 

 country, was really the voice of a bird. The Nightjar 

 is one of the latest of our summer migrants ; he arrives 

 usually about the 1st of May, and leaves us again about 

 the end of September. The month of July is, however, 

 the month to hear him to perfection, and nearly all my 

 experiences of the bird were acquired by me then. 

 There are several peculiarities about the Nightjar which 

 make it very interesting to the lover of birds ; amongst 

 these, I may speak briefly of its remarkable voice, its 

 plumage, its " pectinated" claw, and its mode of perch- 

 ing on the branch of a tree. I hope that in the near 

 future my readers may be led to see and hear and judge 

 for themselves as regards these matters. 



The Nightjar is closely allied to the Swifts, and just 

 as they are retiring to rest, after a long day's chase of 



