Nighthawk SONGLESS BIRDS. 



Nest : A ground hollow like the last species. 

 Eggs : 2, of variable shades of gray latticed with olive. 

 Range : Northern and eastern North America, east of the Great 

 Plains. 



Another bird of the twilight, feeding bat-like upon the 

 insects obtained in the air. It is most conspicuous in the 

 late afternoon, though it flies also by day, and may be 

 distinguished from the Whip-poor-will, which it closely 

 resembles, by the large white wing spots. After dark its 

 cry will easily identify the Nighthawk, for, instead of the 

 distinct syllables of the Whip-poor-will, it gives a peculiar 

 harsh whistling note, while on the wing, which is followed 

 every few minutes by a vibrating sound, as if a fully charged 

 telegraph wire was struck with a bit of metal ; or, as Nuttall 

 describes it, "a hollow whirr, like the rapid turning of a 

 spinning wheel, or a strong blowing into the bung-hole of an 

 empty hogshead, which is supposed to be produced by the 

 action of air in the open mouth of the bird." In the latter 

 conjecture he was wrong, as the jarring sound, which gave 

 the bird the name of Night-jar, is now conceded to come 

 from its habit of dropping suddenly through the air, thus 

 making a sort of stringed instrument of its pinions. 



The Nighthawk has the Whip-poor-will's habit of laying 

 its eggs on a bare surface, only it chooses open fields and 

 waste pastures, or even flat roofs of city houses, instead of 

 the woods. The term Hawk, as applied to it, is an entire 

 misnomer; it is in no sense a bird of prey, and subsists 

 entirely on insects, and the stories told of its chicken-killing 

 propensities are wholly unfounded. In early autumn, prior 

 to the migration, the Nighthawks gather in enormous flocks 

 and fly about the entire afternoon, when they may be 

 distinctly seen. 



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