370 THE NIGHTJAR 



and is not sunk on the bough, a position assumed when the bird is 

 suspicious or alarmed. The time that a bird will churr without 

 stopping varies considerably ; it may be a minute or less, or as much 

 as six minutes. This song, if one may so call it, is of course heard 

 at its best after sunset ; it is recommenced before dawn, may be 

 heard late at night, and occasionally by day. 1 Except during a part of 

 August, it continues to be uttered almost up to the time of the bird's 

 departure, from which it may be inferred that it expresses other 

 feelings besides love. 2 The hen has been observed to churr on the 

 nest, or at least to utter notes not unlike the churring of the male. 3 



The nest is merely a spot of bare ground, usually among bits of 

 bark and dead wood, and is to be found on bracken-clad commons 

 and similar places, also in open woodland glades. Judging from 

 the proceedings of the captive pair watched by Dr. Heinroth, the 

 male takes a part in the choice of the site. The male in question 

 flew repeatedly on to both a leopard and a peccary skin that lay on 

 the floor, and scratched vigorously with both feet. His mate, after 

 following his movements with interest, used to push him aside and 

 sit on the spot he had scratched, as if to assure herself of its 

 suitability by personal investigation. She finally selected the peccary 

 skin, on which she laid two eggs. She commenced sitting by day on 

 the first egg as soon as it was laid, but judging from the evidence, 

 apparently not at night. If this was so, it may be inferred that she 

 began sitting by day not to incubate but to conceal the eggs, a 

 precaution rendered necessary by the fact that their comparatively 

 light coloration usually does not assimilate with the site, though no 

 doubt the reverse is sometimes the case. When incubation proper 

 began, the birds sat, of course, both by day and night. 



1 Dr. Heinrotli in the Journal fur Ornithologie, 1909, 78. 



2 T. A. Coward, Fauna of Cheshire, i. 257. 



* Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropaa, iv. 249 ; E. Selous in the Zoologist, 1899, 388, etc. Dr. 

 Heinroth, in his observations on the nightjar in captivity, noted that the young male uttered a 

 somewhat infantile churring at the age of five weeks. It also attempted to smite its wings 

 and move its tail from side to aide. Journal fur Ornithologie, 1909, 78. 



