COMMON NIGHTJAR. 311 



meeting with it between the months of May and September. When the 

 evening's gloom is falling, in the dreamy ' afterglow ' of a summer sunset, 

 you may hear the Goatsucker's well-known churr from the woods ; and 

 as the darkness deepens and the glowworms' little lamps twinkle in 

 the dewy grass, they come forth and search the air above the broken, 

 ground for their favourite food. This nightly beat of the ' Fern-Owl/ is 

 partly heath, partly bracken, and partly furze, intermixed with a few 

 stunted trees. You may see the birds repeatedly hover in the air above 

 your head, the soft napping of their wings being scarcely audible, and their 

 forms coming strongly out against the clear western sky as they mount 

 for a moment above the tree-tops. If you keep very quiet they will pro- 

 bably alight on one of the poles of the wire fence which divides the wood 

 from the heath. Here their actions are very like those of a Flycatcher. 

 They sally out into the air to catch a passing moth or beetle, then 

 return to their perch : a few moments' pause, then another sally into the 

 air, turning, twisting, and hovering with charming gracefulness and with 

 scarcely any noise whatever. Sometimes when one bird is thus perched it 

 is joined by its mate, and I have seen them thus convey food to each 

 other. As night draws on their activity seems to increase ; and, 

 darting and gliding swiftly amongst the trees, or out into the open, they 

 appear to hold high carnival in the gloom, and as they turn amongst the 

 trees the light under surface of their wings is very distinct. On the wing 

 the Goatsucker's common note is a clear and somewhat rapidly repeated 

 co-ic co-ic, whilst the ( churring ' noise is made only when the bird is at 

 rest." 



The Nightjar docs not appear to be much incommoded by the light, and 

 instances are on record where it has been seen searching for its prey 

 during the middle of the day, probably when it has arrived hungry after a 

 night's migration. As is the case with so many birds whose habits are 

 not readily observed, the Nightjar has few friends. The name of Goat- 

 sucker is derived from an ancient superstition that the bird is capable of 

 drawing milk from the goat, probably arising from the wideness of its 

 gape, and from the fact that the poor harmless bird flies over the sleeping 

 herds to catch the insects usually found in their vicinity. Gamekeepers 

 either shoot it in the belief that it is a species of Hawk, or they nail it up 

 in their museums along with Cuckoos and Kestrels to increase their show 

 of destroyed vermin, under the impression that their employers will not 

 discover that these birds are not Hawks of some kind that are injurious 

 to game. In its noiseless flight this bird resembles most the Owls ; but it 

 can twist and turn on the wing, or skim along the side of the wood, or 

 hawk for its insect prey over the tops of the trees with almost the facility 

 of a Swallow, a bird which it also resembles in its helplessness on the 

 ground, where it can only walk with difficulty. 



