Nightjar's Flight 359 



heard during this proceeding. Tawny and Long-eared 

 Owls clap their wings in a very similar manner, of which 

 the writer has often had both ocular and aural demonstra- 

 tion, and the habit is not confined to these birds only. 



The flight of a Nightjar is, at all times, a study of airy 

 buoyancy, the reason of which is at once apparent on 

 handling the bird, the bulk and weight of the body being 

 insignificant in comparison with the stretch and power of 

 the wings and tail. This, together with the large head, 

 causes the centre of gravity to be thrown what appears to 

 be disproportionately forward, when the bird is at rest. It 

 is probably the weak grasping power of the feet, in conjunc- 

 tion with the great development of tail and wings, that 

 causes the bird to prefer sitting lengthwise, on a branch, 

 not across it, as most birds do. This longitudinal position 

 is, however, sometimes departed from. I have seen two 

 birds alight, together, upon the top of a rail, one of which 

 remained sitting across it ; and one may frequently be seen 

 to settle crosswise upon its perch, and more or less leisurely 

 assume the longitudinal posture. At night it has often 

 been my good fortune to be within a few paces of a Night- 

 jar, sitting athwart the small branches of a dead thorn 

 which rose a few feet above the level of the rest of the 

 fence, and was always a favourite perch for these birds. 

 The slimness of the twigs, here, made it incumbent that they 

 should be grasped in the ordinary manner, and the birds 

 were never noticed to experience any difficulty in doing so. 

 The attitude assumed, in such circumstances, is rather 

 upright than horizontal, with the tail depressed, more 

 resembling that of a kestrel than a cuckoo. Sitting here, a 

 Nightjar has often purred very close to me, and has also 

 uttered those whip-thong notes already referred to. 



When hawking close over a moor, a Nightjar may some- 

 times be noticed to pick a moth off the heather, or take it 

 as it hovers round a flower ; but its more favourite practice 

 is to strike the herbage with its wings, pausing momentarily 

 in its flight to do so, and to capture the insect, when dis- 

 turbed, it is making off. The taking of the swift-flying 

 Noctuae, in this manner, cannot be a simple matter, but time 



