14 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



ing, noticed a Night-jar crouched along the top of a rail 

 by the side of; and only a few feet from, the railway run- 

 ning through Glynde in the county of Sussex ; and when 

 the train returned in the afternoon, some six hours later, 

 the bird was exactly in the same position. And it may 

 be mentioned here that the Night-jar does not perch in the 

 same way as other birds, but crouches or lies along the 

 branch, or what it may be resting on, in the same 

 direction as the limb, and not across it. This pecu- 

 liarity, combined with the sombre brown of the bird^s 

 plumage, renders it somewhat difficult of detection, and 

 doubtless on this account the creature is frequently passed 

 unnoticed and unthought of. But though dull and 

 quiescent in daylight, the bird is vastly different when 

 its feeding time has arrived ; then its whole character 

 changes, it suddenly becomes possessed of marvellous 

 powers of flight, and exhibits an endurance of motive 

 power and elegance of movement that place it in the very 

 first rank of accomplished flyers. Now dashing past 

 almost within grasping distance, now wheeling round 

 some old oak or chestnut tree, now rising high into the 

 air, now gradually descending, now sweeping forwards in 

 a long straight line, and now returning in a series of 

 graceful curves, one moment visible and the next lost in 

 the gloom it may well be doubted whether any other 

 bird can possibly excel the Night-jar in grace of movement. 

 This interesting bird is really, as Morris calls it, " a 

 gigantic and sombre swallow," and, like the swallow, is 

 a summer visitor only, and subsists exclusively on insect 

 food. It is one of the latest of our arrivals, seldom 

 appearing until the middle of May, and leaving again 

 after a stay of about four months. 



