WOOD THRUSH. 9 



is black — a dull, greenish tinted black — and this is mottled with 

 gray and ])r()wn. A marked diagncmtic character of the species is the 

 patchen of white on the wings and on the tail which are displayed in 

 flight. The legs are extieinely short, and the bill is little more 

 than a tiny knob. The gape is wide, the mouth reaching back 

 beyond the eyes. In general appearance this species resembles the 

 whip-poor-will, but the latter lacks the white wing patches and 

 its coloration is much lighter, more grey than brownish black. 



The night hawk does not build a nest nor seek any shelter for its 

 eggs, laying them in the open and trusting to their inconspicuousness 

 for protection. Nor is the bird at all particular as to the location 

 of its nestless nest. On one occasicm, when crossing the ridge of a 

 hill that raised its wind-swept crest far above the surrounding land, 

 I was stopped by a flutter at my feet. The grand view which the 

 situation commanded had so absorbed my attention that I had failed 

 to notice that directly in my pathway a devoted mother was 

 sheltering her best loved. The parent had not stirred until my 

 foot was almost upon her, not a full yard away. Even then she 

 made no efTort for her own safety, but strove to entice me away 

 from her eggs by simulating a broken wing, and the ruse was so 

 skilfully executed that for a moment I was baffled. There sure 

 enough on the bare rock, lay the elliptical beauties for which the 

 mother's heart in her bird-breast was beating painfully. It was not 

 easy detecting the eggs, they were so much like the granite upon 

 which they lay — like two weather worn pebbles. The ground 

 color on inspection proved a slaty gray, or dull whitish, and 

 the irregular markings which covered the surface were of varying 

 tints of brown and lilac. I have seen these eggs also on the gravel 

 roof of a city warehouse, in the centre of bustling activity. 



Night hawks are abundant throughout the country during the 

 summer months, but leave us in September for the tropical zone. 



WOOD THRUSH. 



If a bird's home is the country in which it was bom, and where 

 it builds its nest and rears its young, — and surely that is the place 

 best entitled to be called the home of a bird, — these Eastern Pro- 



