PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR. 125 



bird ever found her nest after once leaving it. What 

 eyesight a night-hawk must have to distinguish its 

 eggs, in this case as a single pebble among ten thou- 

 sand ! To my eyes there was nothing approaching a 

 landmark near the spot that, by reason of the eggs' 

 presence, might be called a nest. 



Unlike the whippoorwill, I do not associate night- 

 hawks with spring or even early summer, at which 

 times they have never been prominent features of the 

 landscape ; but during August, and from that month 

 until frosty weather, they are the birds of the gloam- 

 ing, and the sunset sky, be it never so brilliant, would 

 lose a charm were not these strange birds forever 

 darting to and fro. Their flight is swallow-like, 

 and, if not quite as graceful, has sufficient charm to 

 keep us on the watch and ever wondering by what 

 subtle power they can dart and twist and dive, catch- 

 ing insects all the while, and yet find time to sing after 

 a fashion. I say, "sing," because the note is not 

 harsh and is too frequently repeated to be classed as 

 a mere impatient ejaculation, which was at one time 

 my impression ; but during the summer of 1895 the 

 birds were unusually abundant, and I often took my 

 stand on the highest point of a rolling field, where, 

 remaining quiet, the night-hawks came near. While 

 the glow of the setting sun was yet across the land- 

 scape the birds remained high in the air, and it was 

 not until the vesper-sparrows had ceased singing that 

 the night-hawks came nearer to the earth. There 

 seemed reason for this. There was a warm stratum 

 of air on the level at which I stood, and into this 



