50 BIRD LIFE GLIMPSES 



animals are really as scientific as their anatomies, 

 and professors of them, when once made, would be 

 as good as their brothers. 



Space, after this disquisition, will not permit 

 me to say much more about the nightjars only 

 this, that they return each year to the same 

 spot, and have not only their favourite tree, but 

 even their favourite branch in it, to perch upon. I 

 have seen one settle, after successive flights, upon a 

 particular point of dead wood, near the top of a 

 small and inconspicuous oak, surrounded by taller 

 trees which had a much more inviting appearance, 

 and on coming another night, there were just the 

 same flights and settlings. It is not, however, my ex- 

 perience that the eggs are laid, each year, just where 

 they were the year before. It may be so, as a rule, 

 but there are certainly exceptions, and amongst them 

 were the particular pair that I watched. 



