Till: NKJIIT.IAU .".7:< 



a piece of white (rnper to her Iwck. That she undertook much more 

 than her share of inclination ;i^ not <lne to any lack of /nil on 

 the part of the cock. So eager was he at times to get on the eggs, 

 that he would drag his mate off* them. When he did not succeed, 

 he sat down beside her and waited. When one of a jmir does take 

 the place of the other on the nest, the change is often accompanied 

 by a display of conjugal amenities. The cock, for instance, arrives, 

 st-ttlt-s Infill,- tin- lien. pivsNt-s a-ainsi lu-r. lliu^ liintiiiL: plainlx lli;il 

 it is his tuni. " For a few seconds the pair sit thus, churring to- 

 gether, and, whilst doing so, both wag their tails and not only their 

 tails, but their whole bodies also from side to side, like a dog in a 

 transport of pleasure. Then all at once . . . the female darts away, 

 l-a\ iui: th.' m;ilr upon tin- r-::- N|, ( . -,,.--, ( >tl instantanroiish . launch- 

 ing, light as a feather, direct from her sitting attitude, without rising, 

 or even moving, first In other cases the cock bird settles himself a 

 little farther away, and the hen at once flies off. There are infinite 

 variations in the pretty scene, but the prettiest, because the most 

 affectionate, is that which I have described/' ' 



The male nightjar's skill in incubation is not, however, equal to 

 his zeal. Dr. Heinroth noted that his tame cock, unlike his mate, had 

 some difficulty in keeping both eggs under him at the same time, and, 

 when he succeeded in rolling one egg under him with his beak, he 

 would sometimes lose the other. Still, he learned by experience, and 

 towards the end of the breeding season practised the art with as great 

 skill as the hen. The same initial lack of efficiency on the part of the 

 male was noted by Mr. . Selous when watching nightjars in the wild 

 state. On one occasion this bird failed to get back to the nest an 

 egg which had rolled out of it to the bottom of a little incline, where 

 it remained wedged under a piece of bark. After several attempts 

 and much toil, lasting nearly half an hour, he solved the difficulty by 

 rolling the remaining egg out of the nest down to where the offending 

 egg lay an act showing an unusual degree of intelligence.''' 



1 K. Selons. Bird Life Glimpuc*, p. 24. B. Seloiu, op. cit., pp. 26-20. 



