﻿20 Birds 



Heaths, moors, woodlands and commons abounding with gorse 

 and bracken are the favourite haunts of this bird. While perching 

 it sits lengthwise along a branch, usually selecting for the purpose 

 an old gnarled one agreeing closely in colour and general re- 

 semblance with its own mottled plumage, rendering it most 

 inconspicuous and affording it great protection. Often a certain 

 branch may be used for a whole season or even for several 

 consecutive years by the same bird. 



The hawk-like appearance of the Nightjar has led to large 

 numbers having been shot by gamekeepers, who in their ignorance, 

 supposing it to be a hawk or owl, have looked upon this harmless 

 bird as vermin. 



The Nightjar makes no nest, merely placing its two beautiful 

 eggs on the bare ground more or less under the shelter of some 

 neighbouring furze, heather, or bracken. They are elliptical in 

 shape and are white, spotted, streaked, and marbled in great 

 variation with different shades of brown and lilac-grey. 



The general colouring of its plumage is ashen-grey, beautifully 

 mottled, streaked, and barred with dark brown and cinnamon. 

 The male may readily be distinguished from the female by the 

 presence of three conspicuous white spots on the wings (one on 

 each of the first three primaries) and by similar blotches on the 

 tips of the two outer tail-feathers. 



The Nightjar is a very beneficial species, as it feeds solely on 

 insects of various kinds, catching them on the wing during the 

 twilight hours. It destroys enormous numbers of moths and 

 other insects, many being harmful to forest trees and heather. 



» 

 SWIFT. 



Cypselus apus. 



The Swift, also known as the Deviling and Screecher, possesses 

 no song-muscles ; its only note is a piercing harsh scream. The 

 bill is very small, but the gape is wide for capturing insects on the 

 wing as the bird rushes through the air in its remarkably rapid 

 flight. Its food consists entirely of insects, including aphides, 

 beetles, flies and gnats, all captured while flying. 



This curious bird is a common summer visitor to the British 

 Islands, throughout which it is generally distributed, appearing 



