Nightjars Breeding in Captivity.



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NIGHTJARS BREEDING IN CAPTIVITY.



The Field , of October 17th, publishes an interesting

account of the breeding in captivity of a pair of Nightjars

belonging to Dr. 0 . Heinroth of Berlin, who, with the able

assistance of Mrs. Heinroth, keeps a good collection of native

insectivorous birds. I11 November 1906, a male bird was obtained

which had been fed entirely by being crammed, a practice which

had to be continued for nearly a month, when it commenced to

take food presented to it with tweezers, and finally was per¬

suaded to take food from the ground.


During the spring of last year this bird tried to make a

nest, and its owner did his utmost to procure a mate for it.


In July two young birds were obtained, which proved to

be a pair. Of these the male was sent to the Frankfort Zoo, as

the original male would not agree with it. The remaining pair

were kept in a large cage during the night and morning, but

were allowed the free flight of Dr. Heinroth’s study or dining¬

room during the rest of the day.


Pairing took place at the end of May, and the male com¬

menced to form a nesting place on a peccary-skin rug in the

dining-room, by twisting round and round and scraping with his

feet. Eggs were laid on the 2nd and 4th of June, the female

sitting well, her place being taken by the male when she left to

obtain food.


Incubation lasted sixteen and a quarter days, both eggs

hatching successfully. The young were fed by the parents by

the latter inserting their bills as far as the nostrils into those of

the chicks. Both young were successfully reared as were a

second brood of two, hatched in July, incubation in this case

occupying nearly two days longer than in the previous instance

owing to the birds leaving the eggs for longer periods.


These Nightjars are described as being extraordinarily



tame.



