Nighthawk 



Anyone disliking the name, however, surely can not 

 complain of a limited choice of other names, by which, 

 in different sections of the country, it is quite as commonly 

 known, night-jar, bull-bat, mosquito hawk, will-o'-the 

 wisp, pisk, piramidig, long-winged goatsucker. 



NELTJE BLANCH AN. Bird Neighbors. 23 



It has almost no bill at all, merely a hook and eye for 

 a wide gaping mouth. 



FLORENCE A. MERRIAM. Birds Through an Opera Glass. 2 



When flying, the white mark on their primaries is a 

 conspicuous character, and has the appearance of being 

 a hole in the bird's wing. 



CHAPMAN. Handbook of Birds. 21 



The aerial evolutions of the nighthawk are remarkable. 

 It soars and it flaps, it twists and it turns, it mounts per- 

 pendicularly into the air all with graceful ease; and in 

 the nesting season its performances are a seven days' 

 wonder for all beholders. When high in the air, it shoots 

 down almost to the earth, and then, turning abruptly, 

 ascends to the same heights. In diving, the air is forced 

 through its wings, making a booming sound, which Nuttall 

 describes as " resembling that produced by blowing strongly 

 into the bung of an empty hogshead. " 



FLORENCE A. MERRIAM. Birds of Village and Field. 1 

 94 



