THE NIGHTJAE. 89 



in good health. On skinning it I took from its stomach several 

 large moths, and found, living, in its eyes and brain, twenty-four 

 round greyish white parasitic worms, each about half an inch 

 long, and spirally coiled up. The following day I found one 

 young Nightjar, about the size of a Starling, and without 

 feathers. An old Nightjar fluttered away from it along the 

 ground, apparently carrying something, about the size of the 

 young one, in its mouth. On returning to the spot I found 

 the old bird and two young ones. Two or three days afterwards 

 I looked in vain for them, and suppose the old one had removed 

 them both. 



Mr. Baker, the Cambridge taxidermist, in 1875, told me 

 he was once walking with the late Mr. Clough Newcome at 

 Feltwell, when they found a clutch of two Nightjar's eggs. 

 Baker touched one, and wished to take them, but left them till 

 he should return that way. Mr, Newcome said the old one 

 would remove them after the handling. When they returned 

 the eggs were gone. 



On the other hand, last year when a Nightjar was hatching 

 and rearing a second clutch, with the assistance (or very close 

 company) of two older young ones, near my house, she was 

 visited and disturbed day after day for weeks, but I could never 

 see that the young were shifted more than a yard or two ; 

 possibly they crawled that distance when hungry to meet the 

 mother, for they are much more active with their feet than they 

 appear to be before they are disturbed. After the young were 

 able to fly a few yards they returned to about the same spot 

 where they were hatched. My attention was called to this double 

 brood on the 13th of July, when a gamekeeper stated he had 

 seen two young "Night-hawks" about a fortnight ago, and told 

 me where to find them, which I did the same day. Three 

 Nightjars flew up from the same spot. The two young ones 

 were grej^er and lighter in colour than the old bird, which 

 feigned lameness considerably, fluttering along the ground, and 

 often alighting very near me. 



On looking at the place whence they arose, I found two 

 Nightjar's eggs much sat on ; one was chipped. The next day 

 I saw the old female and two young ones fly up together from 

 the two eggs. The same day, at a few hundred yards distance, 

 I found another female Nightjar sitting on two downy young 



