NYCTICHELIDON. 



sucker ; but still they are perfectly distinct species, 

 as will be seen from the description. " This species 

 is," says Wilson, " twelve inches long and twenty-six 

 in extent ; bill yellowish, tipt with black ; the sides of 

 the mouth are armed with numerous long bristles, 

 strong, tapering, and furnished with finer hairs branch- 

 ing from each; cheeks and chin rust colour, speckled 

 with black ; over the eye extends a line of small 

 whitish spots ; head and neck very deep brown, pow- 

 dered with cream, rust, and bright ferruginous colour, 

 and marked with long ragged streaks of black ; scapulars 

 broadly spotted with deep black, bordered with cream, 

 and interspersed with whitish ; the plumage of that 

 part of the neck which falls over the back is long, 

 something like that of a cock, and streaked with yel- 

 lowish-brown ; wing quills barred with black and 

 white rust ; tail rounded, extending about an inch 

 beyond the tips of the wings ; it consists of ten fea- 

 thers, the four middle ones are powdered with various 

 tints of ferruginous, and elegantly marked with fine 

 zig-zag lines, and large herring-bone figures of black ; 

 exterior edge of the three outer feathers barred like 

 the wings ; their interior varies for two-thirds of their 

 length, are pure snowy white, marbled with black, 

 and ferruginous at the base ; this white spreads over 

 the greater part of the three outer feathers near 

 the tips ; across the throat is a slight band or mark 

 of whitish ; breast black, powdered with rust ; belly 

 and vent lighter ; legs feathered before nearly to the 

 feet, which are of a dirty purplish flesh colour ; inner 

 side of the middle claw deeply pectinated. The 

 female differs chiefly in wanting the pure white on 

 the three exterior tail feathers, these being more of a 

 brownish cast." 



This bird arrives in the extreme south of the United 

 States of America about the middle of March, and, like 

 the former, it very speedily gives notice of its arrival by 

 uttering its singular call, which bears a striking resem- 

 blance to the words that have been adopted as its name. 

 The different parts of this singular cry are uttered 

 with a distinctness approaching to articulation. But 

 it is only during the night that they are heard, for, 

 like the rest of the genus, it remains perfectly mute 

 until sunset. If the night is moonless, its voice is 

 suspended during the dark part ; but in bright moon- 

 shine, it is incessant the whole night over. 



C. Americanus (The Night-Hawk). The specific 

 name, Americanus, is by no means very happily ap- 

 plied to this, or indeed to any other species of the 

 genus, for this and the two preceding ones appear 

 equally in the United States ; and in the tropical 

 parts of the American continent there are many more. 

 Generally speaking, this species inhabits more marshy 

 localities than the others, and it also flies higher, 

 making in that respect an approach to the day swal- 

 lows. Though called the night-hawk, it appears to 

 be less nocturnal than some of the others, and often 

 dashes over towns and cities, something in the manner 

 of the swift, but with far more varied motion. They 

 arrive in their northern localities toward the end of 

 April, and the eggs are deposited in the middle of 

 May. They are two in number, as in the other spe- 

 cies, of a dull bluish-white colour, mottled with small 

 spots of olive-brown. The eggs, though without any 

 form of nest, are always deposited in a dry place, 

 and near trees, upon the branches of which the male, 

 and frequently also the female, repose during the 

 day, sitting lengthwise upon the branch, so as not to 

 be easily discovered. But though the pair are usually 



found in the same neighbourhood, they seldom if ever 

 repose in the same tree. 



The conduct of the male, while watching the female 

 and the eggs, is so graphically described by Wilson, 

 that we cannot resist quoting the passage. " As soon 

 as incubation commences," says he, " the male keeps 

 a most vigilant watch around. He is then more fre- 

 quently seen playing about in the air over the place, 

 even during the day, mounting by several quick 

 vibrations of the wings, then a few slower, uttering all 

 the while a sharp harsh squeak, till, having gained 

 the highest point, he suddenly precipitates himself 

 head foremost, and with great rapidity, down sixty or 

 eighty feet, wheeling up again as suddenly ; at which 

 instant is heard a loud booming sound, very much 

 resembling that produced by blowing strongly into 

 the bung-hole of an empty hogshead, and which is 

 doubtless produced by the sudden expansion of his 

 capacious mouth, while he passes through the air. 

 He again mounts by alternate quick and leisurely 

 motions of the wings, playing about as he ascends, 

 uttering his usual hoarse squeak, till, in a few minutes, 

 he again dives with the same impetuosity and harsh 

 sound as before. Some are of opinion that this is 

 done to intimidate man or beast from approaching 

 his nest ; and he is particularly observed to repeat 

 those divings most frequently around those who come 

 near the spot, sweeping down past them, sometimes 

 so near and so suddenly, as to startle and alarm then). 

 The same individual is, however, often seen perform- 

 ing the same mano3uvres over the river, the hill, the 

 meadow, and the marsh, in the space of a quarter of 

 an hour, and also towards the fall when he has no 

 nest. This singular habit belongs peculiarly to the 

 male. The female has, indeed, the same harsh note, 

 and much the same mode of flight ; but never pre. 

 cipitates herself in the same manner as the male- 

 During the time she is sitting, she will suffer you to 

 approach within a foot or two before she attempts to 

 stir, and, when she does it, it is in such a fluttering 

 trembling manner, and with such appearance of a lame 

 and wounded bird, as nine times in ten to deceive 

 the person, and induce him to pursue her. This 

 ' pious fraud,' as the poet Thomson calls it, is kept up 

 until the person is sufficiently removed from the nest, 

 when she immediately mounts and disappears. When 

 the young are first hatched, it is difficult to distin- 

 guish them from the surface of the ground, their down 

 being of a pale brownish colour, and they are alto- 

 gether destitute of the common shape of birds, sitting 

 so fixed and so squat as to be easily mistaken for a 

 slight prominent mouldiness lying on the ground. I 

 cannot say whether they have two broods in the 

 season ; I rather conjecture that they have generally 

 but one." 



As we already said, this bird is not so decidedly 

 nocturnal as some of the other species. In gloomy 

 weather it wings its aerial flight the whole day long ; 

 but when the weather is clear, it does not come into 

 activity till about an hour or two before sunset. Con- 

 trary to the habit of many of the others, however, it 

 appears to prefer the sun to the shade, for in the 

 clearest summer days it is occasionally out, and, when 

 reposing upon a branch, they are fond of doing so 

 in the heat of the sun. When wounded or captured, 

 they put on a semblance of defence, by gaping to the 

 full extent of their wide mouths, and emitting a sort 

 of hiss. They also endeavour to strike with their wings ; 

 but they never offer to use either the bill or the claws. 



