304 POULTRY AND WILD BIRDS 
620 Nighthawk. Length to inches. 
Not a very good name, for this bird 
is not a hawk at all and he is active 
in the afternoon and evening, seldom at 
night. He flies with great ease and at 
quite a height, not merely for exercise, 
but to get his supper, which consists of 
mosquitoes, moths, and other insect 
pests. No bird could do more useful 
work. In wooded regions he passes the 
day perched lengthwise on a limb, but 
on the prairies he roosts upon the 
ground; in either case he is not easily 
seen because his colors harmonize with 
his surroundings. Nighthawks make 
no nest, but the female lays two eggs on 
the bare ground or on the flat roofs of large city buildings. CommonS.R. 
NIGHTHAWK 
417. Whip-poor-will. S.R. westward to eastern Dakota. 
418 Poor-will. Rare S.R. 
420a Western Night Hawk. S.R. in western Dakota. 
Swift Family. — These birds have the same small bill, large mouth, 
long wings, and feeding habits, as the preceding family. The tips of 
the tail feathers are provided with spines, used in 
supporting the birds when they cling to the brick 
walls of chimneys. 
423 Chimney Swift. Length 53 inches. 
Dusky black, seen only on the wing; fly quite 
high, looking like a black bow and arrow against 
the sky. Their nervous twitter is heard at frequent 
intervals as they course about over head, feasting on 
mosquitoes. Nest, a bracket-like basket of small 
twigs glued to the inner walls of chimneys with their 
own saliva. Sometimes large flocks make their 
home in a disused chimnev to which they return in 
a body every evening. They cling to the side, 
using their spine-pointed tails as Woodpeckers do, for support. They 
are frequently miscalled ‘‘ Chimney Swallows.’”’ Common S.R. 
CHIMNEY SWIFT 
