NIGHTHAWK. 



goatsucker. bull bat. 



Chordeiles virginianus. 



Char. Male: above, dull black mottled with brown and gray; wings 

 brown, a patch of white on five outer primaries ; tail dusky, with bars oi 

 gaay and a patch of white near the extremity ; lower parts reddish white 

 with bars of brown ; throat with patch of white. Female : similar, but 

 without white on the tail. Length about 9>^ inches. 



Nest. Usually in open woods ; the eggs generally laid upon a rock or 

 on the turf, — sometimes they are laid on a gravel roof in a city. 



Eggs. 2 ; dull white or iDuff, thickly mottled with brown, slate, and 

 lilac; 1.25 X 0.85. 



Towards the close of April the Nighthavvks arrive in the 

 Middle States, and early in May they are first seen near the 

 sea-coast of Massachusetts, which at all times appears to be a 

 favorite resort. In the interior of the continent they penetrate 

 as far as the sources of the Mississippi, the Rocky Mountains, 

 and the Territory of Oregon ; they are likewise observed 

 around the dreary coasts of Hudson Bay and the remotest 

 Arctic islands, breeding in the whole intermediate region to 

 the more temperate and elevated parts of Georgia. They are 

 now commonly seen towards evening, in pairs, sailing round in 

 sweeping circles high in the air, occasionally descending lower 



