CAPRIMULGID. 267 
THE NIGHTJAR. 
CAPRIMULGUS EUROP4Us, Linnezus. 
The Nightjar is the latest of our regular summer migrants to 
arrive, and is seldom noticed before the middle of May; while it 
usually leaves us in September, though it has been known to remain 
until November in the mild south-west of England. Uncultivated 
ground more or less covered with ferns, gorse or heather, and 
the cool shade of woodland glades, are its favourite haunts, and 
the species is consequently local; but it is distributed as far as 
the northern extremity of the mainland of Scotland, as well as in 
the western islands, except the Outer Hebrides, to which, as to the 
Orkneys and Shetlands, it is only an irregular visitor. In Ireland it 
is rather common in some of the southern and central counties, but 
rare in the north and west. 
The Nightjar sometimes visits the Feroes, and in Scandinavia it 
has been found nesting up to about 63° N. lat.; but in Russia it has 
a less extensive range, while eastward it does not reach beyond 
Lake Baikal in Siberia. Throughout the summer it is found over 
the greater part of Europe, down to the elevated districts of Spain ; 
but in the south of that country (though common on passage early 
in May, and obtained as late as December 11th), its place is chiefly 
