348 HISTORY OF THE 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Kill. 



Male 9.50 23.00 7.80 4.40 .55 .20 



Female... 9.10 22.00 7.50 4.30 .55 .25 



Iris, bill and claws blackish; legs and feet dark grayish brown. 



This is one of our most common birds of the open lands and 

 prairies. Strictly speaking, it is a diurnal bird, but more or less 

 crepuscular in habits, retiring to rest regularly at the close of 

 twilight. In flight they are graceful and pleasing, gliding with 

 ease through their various evolutions and quick turns, skimming 

 with spread tail in a buoyant, effortless manner near the ground 

 or high in air, rising and dropping suddenly, and at times with 

 a quick upward turn that causes a hollow, whirring sound, pro- 

 duced, I think, by the quick vibration of the wings upon the 

 air. Their voice is an occasional squeak or a "Pe-up" note, 

 and, when wounded or in the protection of their young or eggs, 

 often startle the intruder by quickly raising their feathers and 

 emitting through their widely-opened mouth a sharp, hissing 

 sound; and during love making and caressing I have heard the 

 males utter low, cooing notes. 



Their food consists of small winged insects that abound in 

 the air, especially at morn, late in the afternoon and at eve, which 

 accounts for their activity at such times. 



Eggs two, 1.22x. 82; grayish white, thickly mottled all over 

 with various tints of lilac, purple and yellowish brown; they 

 are laid upon the bare ground, in open and exposed situations; 

 in form, rounded elliptical. 



Chordeiles virginianus henryi (GASS.). 



WESTERN NIGHTHAWK. 



Summer resident; common in the western and middle por- 

 tions of the State. Arrive about the middle of May; begin 

 laying the last of May to first of June; return in September. 



B. 115. R. 357a. C. 400. G. 106, 165. U. 420a. 



HABITAT. Western United States; occasionally straggling 

 east into Illinois (western Manitoba. Seton); south into Mexico. 



SP. CHAK. "Similar to C. virginianus, but the male considerably lighter, 

 with a greater predominance of the light mottlings, producing a more grayish 



