411 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 10 



Central Lake, some thirty-five miles from the town, though the 

 surface of the lake might he supposed to form an attractive 

 feeding ground. Not met with at Nootka. 



Although not common at Errington, some were observed 

 nearly every evening during the first half of September. They 

 appeared about dusk, hawking over the grain fields, and in 

 diminishing numbers until September 15. when the last was seen. 

 Though generally observed sailing about in the usual manner of 

 the species, several were seen to alight on the ground, and from 

 there tn make occasional Mights after passing insects, much in the 

 manner of the poor-will. One of them when secured proved to 

 be an immature bird, so it may be that the young nighthawks 

 feed in this manner until their wings become strong enough to 

 support them in more prolonged flights. 



Four specimens were secured (nos. 15694—15697), two males 

 and two females, an adult and an immature of each. The two 

 adults, taken at Errington, August 29 and 30, are in worn breed- 

 ing plumage, the male just beginning to molt, as shown by a few 

 pin feathers on the forehead. The immature male differs from 

 the adult principally in lacking the subterminal white tail band, 

 and in having the white throat patch much obscured by black or 

 brownish markings. The immature female differs from the other 

 three birds in being much more ochraceous on all parts. 



The adults are markedly different from any nighthawks avail- 

 able from more southern localities in the west. C. v. hesperis as 

 illustrated by specimens from California, Oregon, and Nevada, 

 is more grayish, while C. r. henryi from southern Arizona is 

 decidedly more brown in general tone of coloration. The Van- 

 couver birds are very dark colored, and are not to be dis- 

 tinguished from examples of ('. virginianus virginianus at hand 

 from Illinois and Wisconsin. 



In defining the ranges of the western varieties of the night- 

 hawk, our latest authority, the A. O. U. Cluck List of North 

 American Birds, 1910 edition, states that C. v. hesperis occurs in 

 southwestern, and ('. r. henryi in southeastern British Columbia. 

 If that is the ease, ('. v. virginianus has an interrupted range 

 disappearing on the mainland of southwestern Canada to re- 

 appear on Vancouver Island. As it is stated to occur in southei n 



