14 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs 



of the sun, iior, in spite of its crepuscular habits, does its sight appear to be at 

 all affected by bright sunshine ; it is very frequently found on sandy roads and 

 paths, where it dusts itself, after the manner of the game-birds." 



Although eggs of this species are occasionall)^ found before the end of May, 

 they are rareh' deposited before the end of June. It has been said that the 

 Nightjar only rears one brood in the year, and this may perhaps be the case, but 

 if the first eggs are taken it certainly lays again, for fresh eggs have been 

 obtained as late as the 19th iVugust (cf. Zoologist, 1883, pp. 380 and 429). Mr. 

 J. H. Gurney, Junr. (I.e.) observes that according to his experience " eighteen days 

 is the period of incubation." Of the eggs figured on plate viii, figs. 257 and 262, 

 are from Mr. A. B. Fam's collection, and the remaining four from Mr. Frohawk's 

 series : m}^ own eggs resemble one or two of these varieties, and therefore were 

 not required. Mr. Frohawk has taken eggs early in July : he has known a 

 male Goatsucker to roost for a whole season upon the same old furze branch ; 

 he has timed the whirring note, which is often continued until after 11 p.m., and 

 has heard the same bird keep it up without cessation for over a quarter of an hour. 



To show what enormous quantities of insects a Nightjar destroys Mr. Frohawk 

 saj's that in August, 1880, he shot a female in whose mouth were twelve moder- 

 ately large Ahctuid moths, several of which were still alive : and as evidence of 

 the difficulty of putting up a sitting female, he notes that on the 21st June, 1874, 

 his brother was out moth-catching, and seeing a moth which he wanted stooped 

 to box it, almost kneeling on a Nightjar, which rose from just below his knee, 

 exposing two partly incubated eggs. 



This species was exhibited at the sixth exhibition of the Omis Society, in 

 Berlin, and Dr. Karl Russ thvis speaks of it : — " Mrs. Kalwach who came over 

 expressly to the Omis Bxhibition and brought with her man^^ saleable birds, also 

 showed amongst them some ver}^ remarkable rarities, owing to which the collection 

 was at a premium. Three Night-swallows fCaprimulgus eiiropccus, \^.J excited most 

 attention, since they had previousl}^ never been seen alive at any exhibition or any 

 zoological garden — and rightly too, as the difficult}^ of rearing these birds is best 

 illustrated by the fact which Engineer Pallisch (co-editor of the Proceedings of the 

 Ornithological Society of Vienna ' Die Schwalbe ') has published therein, namely — 

 that in no instance have Night-swallows survived, which have been nourished in 

 capti\'it3r ; in every case, at much about the same age, they have infallibly become 

 permanentl}' constipated. The Night-swallows at the Ornis Exhibition were, how- 

 ever, tolerably sprightly, and will we hope fall into the hands of a bird-keeper who 

 ^rill be able to look after them, not only with care, but with full intelligence." 

 Gefiederte Welt xx, p. 100. 



