158 JUNE 



though the least intelligent rustic, one would say, 

 might perceive that its wide gape and weak, fringed 

 beak render it wholly incapable of any of these 

 crimes. The nightjar is, of course, neither a hawk 

 nor an owl, but a near relative of the swallows, and 

 feeds exclusively on insects captured on the wing. 

 If, as is hardly likely, you are so sharpsighted as to 

 detect the nightjar perched on a tree, you shall 

 never see him sitting athwart the bough after the 

 manner of other birds, but always lengthways, and 

 closely parallel to it. But you are very likely to 

 flush the parent birds after the young ones are 

 hatched, and these may lead you a long chase by 

 the time-honoured feint of a broken wing, to draw 

 you away from the brood. 



As the nesting season draws to a close, the male 

 birds of many species take back-seats. The cuckoo 

 loses his voice, the throstle and merle their song ; 

 the cock pheasant seems to shrink by one-third of 

 his former size, the scarlet patch round his eye 

 dwindles and gets dim, and the horn-like ear-coverts, 

 so characteristic of the nuptial dress, disappear. 

 But this is slight disfigurement compared to that 

 which befalls the mallard the male of the common 

 wild-duck. This bird is among the earliest native 



