The NigJithawk. 



way in which this sound is produced, some 

 beheving it to be vocal and others consid- 

 ering that it is caused by the wings when 

 the bird suddenly checks itself in its down- 

 ward flight. The Goatsucker of Europe is 

 said to make a somewhat similar noise when 

 perched, which would seem to confirm the 

 belief that the sound is made by the voice. 



The Nighthawk is a bird of wide range, 

 being found in summer as far north as the 

 shores of Hudson's Bay, and in winter ex- 

 tending its migrations south to Brazil. The 

 typical form, or a closely allied variety, is 

 found from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific. 



This bird does not pass the winter in the 

 United States, but coming from the south 

 enters Louisiana about the first of April. 

 A month later it has reached the Middle 

 States, but according to Audubon is not 

 seen in Maine before June. As soon as 

 they arrive, they make their presence known 

 by their vociferous cries and by their ac- 

 tive and beautiful flight through the air. 

 Audubon's description of its motions at 

 this season is so graphic as to be well 

 worth quoting. He says: "The motions 

 of its wings, which are peculiarly graceful, 

 and the playfulness which it evinces ren- 

 ders its flight quite interesting. The bird 

 appears to glide through the air with all 

 imaginable ease, assisting its ascent, or sup- 

 porting itself on high, by irregular hurried 

 flappings performed at intervals, as if it had 

 unexpectedly fallen in with its prey, pur- 

 sued, and seized it. Its onward motion is 

 then continued. It moves in this manner, 

 either upward in circles, emitting a loud, 

 sharp .squeak at the beginning of each sud- 

 den start it takes, or straight downward, 

 then to the right or left, whether high or 

 low, as it presses onward, now skimming 

 closely over the rivers, lakes or shores of 

 the Atlantic, and again wending its way 

 over the forests or mountain tops. During 

 the love season its mode of flight is parti- 

 cularly interesting ; the male may be said 

 to court his mate entirely on the wing, strut- 



ting as it were through the air, and perform- 

 ing a variety of evolutions with the greatest 

 ease and elegance, insomuch that no bird 

 with which I am acquainted can rival it in 

 this respect. 



"It frequently raises itself a hundred 

 yards, sometimes much more, and appar- 

 ently in the same careless manner already 

 mentioned, its squeaking notes becoming 

 louder and more frequent the higher it as- 

 cends ; when, checking its course, it at once 

 glides obliquely downward with wings and 

 tail half closed, and with such rapidity that 

 a person might easily conceive it to be about 

 to dash itself against the ground. But when 

 close to the earth, often at no greater dis- 

 tance than a few feet, it instantaneously 

 stretches out its wings, so as to be nearly 

 directed downward at right angles with the 

 body, expands its tail, and thus suddenly 

 checks its downward career. It then brushes 

 as it were, through the air, with inconceiv- 

 able force, in a semicircular line of a few 

 yards in extent. This is the moment when 

 the singular noise produced by this bird is 

 heard, for the next instant it rises in an 

 almost perpendicular course, and soon be- 

 gins anew this curious mode of courtship." 



It is often the case that birds whose pow- 

 ers of flight are very highly developed are 

 scarcely able to walk at all, and conversely, 

 some birds which are swift runners or ex- 

 pert swimmers are almost without the power 

 of flight. The Nighthawk belongs in the 

 first of these categories. Its feet are ridic- 

 ulously small and weak for the size of the 

 bird, and are besides placed very far back, 

 so that it can scarcely walk at all. When 

 at rest, it seems to rest on its breast, and 

 does not stand on its feet. It is often seen 

 perched on the limb of a tree or on a fence 

 rail, not across the support, as is the case 

 with most birds, but lengthwise of it. 



The Nighthawk builds no nest, but de- 

 posits its two oval gray-freckled eggs on 

 the bare ground. It seems careless in its 

 choice of a position, and we have found 



