132 



THE NIGHTJAR. 



Caprhnidgus europceus (L.). 



The records sent in concerning the Nightjar were very 

 scanty, and hardly sufficient to indicate its area o£ arrival 

 with any certainty ; but it seems to have landed chiefly 

 on the eastern half of the south coast. The earliest record 

 was in Wiltshire on the 8th of x\pril, and single birds 

 were observed in Surrey, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, 

 Derbyshire and Yorkshire between the 3 6th and 29th, 

 an increase in the last-named county taking place on the 

 30th. Small arrivals apparently took place along the whole 

 of the south coast during the first ten days of May, and one 

 of somewhat larger dimensions seems to have occurred about 

 the middle of the month, as an extension of range com- 

 mencinff on the 12th was noticeable. The birds reached 

 Cumberland on the 17th and Northumberland on the 19th, 

 while a single bird was killed at the English and Welsh 

 Grounds light-vessel (Bristol Channel) at 2 a.m. on the 

 14th/15th. Further arrivals would appear to have taken 

 place about the 18th and 26th of May and during the first 

 week in June, but it is not possible to say anything more 

 definite with regard to them. 



Eggs were found in Hampshire on the 25th of May and 

 in Surrey on the 26th. 



Chronological Summary of the Kecords. 



April 8th. Wilts. 

 16th. Oxford. 

 17 th. Yorkshire. 



