The nest is placed in an open spot on a heath 

 or moor, or on the middle of a foot-track through 

 a wood. The birds rest quietly on the ground by 

 day, and as soon as dusk sets in commence their 

 jarring note, from which they derive the name of 

 Nightjar. Their food consists mainly of moths and 

 night-flying insects. They have a most capacious 

 mouth, and are provided with a serrated claw, 

 which is supposed by country people to be intended 

 for combing the scales or down of the moths from 

 their whiskers. 



The birds were obtained on the Hill of 

 Tarlogie, near Tain, in Ross-shire, in June, 1869. 



See " Kough Notes," Vol. L, Plate 28. 



SWALLOW. 



Case 5. 



There are several weeks in the spring during 

 which Swallows may be daily observed landing on 

 our shores. The first arrivals usually make their 

 appearance early in April ; and as late as the 20th 

 of May, when out in the Channel, I have met with 

 hundreds still crossing. 



Should boisterous weather set in shortly after 

 their arrival, they suffer greatly from the effects of 

 the cold and wind. The weather in the second 

 week in June, 1871, in the east of Norfolk, was 

 unusually severe for that time of the year, and the 

 unfortunate Swallows and Martins were seen in 

 hundreds sheltering from the storm under the 

 hedges and banks. I brought in several quite 

 benumbed by cold, but after being placed in a 

 warm room for some hours, they were enabled to 

 fly off in search of food. 



Swallows and Martins may frequently be 

 observed, when flying over a river or pond, dipping 

 into the water to drink. This operation is generally 

 easily effected. I, however, noticed several 



