THE FLOEIDA NIGHTHAWK. 171 



of black, giving the bird an appearance above not unlike the young of JEgia- 

 litis wilsonia, save that the down is long'er." 1 



Mr. Frank M. Chapman, in his "List of Birds Observed at Gainesville, 

 Florida," speaking of this subspecies, states: "Bull-bat or (as it is more com- 

 monly termed) 'Bat' shooting is here a popular pastime, great numbers being 

 killed for food, and in August, when the birds have gathered in flocks, favorite 

 fields may be occupied at nightfall by as many as a dozen gunners." 2 



Dr. William L. Ralph has taken several nests and eggs, with the parents, in 

 Putnam County, Florida, Avhich are now in the United States National Museum 

 collection. Here, during the breeding season at least, the Florida Nighthawk 

 frequents mainly low, flat pine woods, especially such as have recently been 

 burnt over, the eggs generally lying on the bare ground. Sandy soil seems to 

 be preferred for nesting places. One set of eggs was found by him under a 

 small orange tree in an orange grove on the side of a sandy hill; three others 

 were taken in flat pine woods, and in one instance the eggs laid on a few frag- 

 ments of charcoal left where a fallen tree had been partly burnt, between the 

 remaining part of the tree and the stump, about 3 feet from each. Nidification 

 appears to be at its height in Putnam County, Florida, during May, and prob- 

 ably two broods are raised in a season. 



The eggs of the Florida Nighthawk resemble those of the two preceding 

 species closely, both in shape and in their ground color; but the markings, as a 

 rule, are much darker and bolder, and the eggs are also somewhat smaller. The 

 difference between them and those of their near relative, CJtordeiles virginianus 

 minor, is still greater, the latter being on the whole much lighter colored than 

 those of the Western Nighthawk, resembling the eggs of Chordeiles iexensis far 

 more in this respect. 



The average measurement of fifteen specimens in the United States National 

 Museum collection, all from Florida, is 29.03 by 20.89 millimetres, or about 1.14 

 by 0.82 inches. The largest egg measures 30.94 by 20.57 millimetres, or 1.22 

 by 0.81 inches; the smallest, 27.43 by 20.32 millimetres, or 1.08 by 0.80 inches. 



Of the type specimens, both from the Ralph collection, No. 24969 (PL 3, 

 Fig. 5), from a set of two eggs taken near San Mateo, Florida, on May 9, 1885, 

 represents one of the finer-marked examples, while No. 25823 (PI. 3, Fig. 6), 

 also from a set of two taken near Tomoka, Florida, on May 8, 1892, shows one 

 of the darker-colored patterns. 



1 The Auk, Vol. V, 1888, p. 186. ■ Ibid., p. 272. 



