Anglesey 



the time to their exposure to the great heat of 

 the sun. 



The nightjar is described by a local authority as 

 " common "in North Wales, but, however frequently 

 it may be met with, this bird is in every other respect 

 a most uncommon one. It is one of a numerous 

 and widely distributed class of birds, but it is the 

 only member of that class which visits our islands. 

 One has but to mention the mysterious serrated 

 claw, of which no satisfactory explanation has yet 

 been offered ; the bird's habit of perching along, 

 instead of across its perch ; the fact that it is a 

 night-bird, but nests on the open ground ; its 

 strange whirring note, for which there exists but a 

 remote parallel in the reel of the tiny grasshopper 

 warbler ; one has, in short, but to look at, and 

 listen to, the bird, to recognize that here is a 

 creature unique, eccentric, unlike any other. No 

 wonder that popular imagination has attributed to 

 it all sorts of malign acts and influences, not the 

 least ridiculous of which is that from which it 

 derives its name of "goat-sucker." The 'nightjar 

 has some queer ways, but it is safe to affirm that 

 he never carried his eccentricity to the point of 

 milking goats ! 



As dusk sets in, the nightjar is transformed. 

 Sleeping during the daylight, no sooner has the 

 twilight fallen than the bird takes to the wing, 

 skimming the irregular surface of the furze plots, 

 and coasting the woods with the swiftness, sureness, 



189 



