The Chorus of the Forest 



from the forest and spread over lake and river as 

 early as four o'clock in the afternoon. They are 

 of tireless flight, darting here and there with 

 mouths wide open for whate^'er they come across, 

 as the)'^ take their food on wing. Especially dur- 

 ing the hreeding season the males do aerial stimts, 

 possibly for the diversion of weary mates. They 

 soar seventy-five or one hundred feet, spread the 

 wings and tail widely, and drop toward earth, the 

 wind passing between the stiff feathers causing 

 the whistling, booming sound that earns for them 

 the name of "night jar." 



This performance does jar the night somewhat, 

 and might the nerves also, were it wise to allow 

 ourselves such a luxury. I prefer the term to Jarring 

 night hawk, since the birds are not nearly so much ^^'^ Night 

 creatures of night as they should be to merit dis- 

 tinct designation by the name; neither are they 

 hawks at all, but relatives of martins and swal- 

 lows. Aside from this instrumental performance 

 on wing they utter a nice, cheerful scream that 

 some i^eculiar folks insist upon disliking, but then 

 there are people in this Avorld who are forever rais- 

 ing strong objections to the vocalizing of their 

 human neighbors. Night jars have a third per- 

 formance, half vocal, half pantomimic, that is most 

 remarkable of all. When surprised close their 

 nests, cornered, or slightly wounded, they lie on 

 their backs, swell their facial and throat muscles 



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