KINGFISHER. SWALLOWS AND CLIMBERS 



341 



young congregate as the autumnal season 

 of migration approaches, when great 

 numbers of Sand IMartins roost upon the 

 reeds around our Broads, and all but 

 the Swift delight in resting upon tele- 

 graph wires. 



The Chimney Swallow alone deserves 

 to be called a song bird, the subdued 

 notes of this species being especially 

 pleasing as summer begins to fail. The 

 House Martin 

 utters a simple 

 twittering, 

 usually from 

 the nest only ; 

 the Swift's sole 

 note is a harsh 

 scream, and 

 the Sand Mar- 

 tin is as unob- 

 trusive in 

 language as it 

 is dingy in 

 appearance. 

 All four species 

 are partial to 

 the neighbour- 

 hood of water, 

 especially i n 

 dull and 

 stormy weath- 

 er. As to dis- 

 tinctive marks, 

 the Swallow- 

 may be distin- 

 guished from either of the ]\Iartins ])y 

 its chestnut throat, its uniform glossy 

 steel-blue upper parts, its dirty-white 

 under parts, and its long forked tail. 

 The House Martin has the rump and 

 lower parts pure white, and its feet are 

 also thus feathered. The Sand Martin 

 is of a uniform mouse colour, lighter 

 beneath. The Swift differs from the 

 Swallow in its larger size, swifter fiight, 

 and the peculiar narrowness of its out- 

 spread wings and general sooty blackness. 

 The Nightjar takes up the work of 

 keeping the insect hosts in check, which 

 the Swallow tribe relinquish at sunset. 

 It is far more frequently heard than seen. 

 It is protectively coloured ; its beautifully 

 vermiculated plumage of ash-grey spotted 

 with black and bnnvn, the white tips 

 to the outer tail feathers, and large white 

 spots on the inner web of the first three 



wing feathers, render it a lovely object 

 in the hand ; when its large eyes, wide 

 gape, surrounded, as I have said, with 

 strong bristles, and curiously pectinated 

 middle toe-nail should be noted. A 

 distinctive habit of the bird is that it 

 always perches lengthwise. This, together 

 with the fact that its legs are comparatively 

 short, render it difficult to locate in the 

 twilight, even when attention is called 



rholograpli by y. T. Savjnan, Berkhampslead. 



NIGHTJAR ON NEST. 



to its whereabouts by its loud and pro- 

 tracted jarring notes ; the bird itself is 

 over ten inches in length. By day it 

 rests on or near the ground, and chiefly 

 frequents commons and waste lands, or 

 woods in which there is not much under- 

 growth. It is the bird parallel of the 

 Buff-tip Moth in the insect world, and 

 provides a remarkable instance of pro- 

 tective resemblance to the surroundings 

 in which its two lovely, oval, white and 

 lilac-blotched eggs are laid upon the 

 bare or leaf-strewn ground. Whilst toy- 

 ing with one another in their nocturnal 

 flight these birds frequently clap their 

 wings together above the back, after the 

 manner of the Pouter Pigeon, and they 

 also then utter a peculiarly liquid mono- 

 syllal)ic call-note, which sounds some- 

 thing like " <iueeii." 



Tlie Nightjar is our latest sununer 



