196 LAND BIRDS 



suppose, because their color usually blends so well with 

 that of their surroundings. 



Incubation lasts sixteen days, and it is a question how 

 far the male shares in it. In some cases he does ; but 

 as a rule he prefers to watch from a limb overhead so 

 long as there are eggs only. So soon as these become 

 animated bits of bird life, his interest is aroused, and he 

 is quite as ready to guard them as is the mother. The 

 newly hatched young are little balls of rusty down, 

 mottled slightly with dusky, and have the characteristic 



420. NiGHTHAWK. 

 " Crept hack as often as she was driven away.^' 



large head, wide mouth, and short thick neck of the 

 adults, so that you know at once to what family they 

 belong. They are carefully guarded by one of the 

 parents continually, and if molested they will likely be 

 removed to another hiding-place ; but the nighthawks 

 remove their young less frequently than the poorwills. 

 The feeding of the nestlings is accomplished by a 

 modified regurgitation, the small insects being brought 

 in the gular pouch or cheeks of the parent. A female 

 that we found on the nest would not leave the young 



