136 OUR RARER BIRDS 



flushed from the edges of the pine woods near the moors. 

 The Nightjar is a thorough bird of night, and is never seen 

 abroad in the bright daylight unless it has been disturbed 

 from its sleeping -place. When flushed in the daytime it 

 rises in a bewildered sort of manner, tumbling aimlessly 

 about in the air, and soon seeks a refuge amongst the tall 

 bracken or in the dense branches of a tree. It is frequently 

 flushed from the country roads, where it lies close until nearly 

 trod upon, so much does it resemble a piece of cow dung or 

 a flat stone. It often sleeps on some broad branch amongst 

 the thickest foliage, always sitting along the bough, never 

 across it as most other birds do. This peculiarity in perching 

 is for the purpose of concealment, and when the bird is 

 crouching close to the bark it looks like a lump of lichen or 

 gray moss. A large and conspicuous moth found amongst 

 birch trees always alights on the bark in a certain attitude for 

 a precisely similar purpose. The Nightjar is one of the first 

 nocturnal birds to fly abroad at dusk, and its peculiar note 

 may be heard here and there amongst the trees and fern 

 before the sun is completely hidden by the hills. 



Few things are more pleasant in the refreshing cool of 

 evening, after the broiling heat and oppressiveness of a mid- 

 summer day, than to stroll on to the fern-clad commons and 

 by the woodsides to watch the aerial gambols of the Nightjar. 

 When the evening's gloom is falling, in the dreamy afterglow 

 of a summer sunset, and the shadows broaden as the last rays 

 of light glimmer on the tree-tops, you may hear the Nightjar's 

 familiar churr from the woods. As the darkness deepens and 

 the glow-worms glisten amongst the dewy grass, the birds 

 come out from amongst the trees and hawk about the air 

 above the bracken and brambles in search of food. You may 

 see them repeatedly hover in the air above your head, the 

 big white spots on the wings and tail showing out very dis- 

 tinctly ; and the soft flapping of their wings is scarcely 



