228 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



breeds throughout its range, depositing two eggs in open situations, 

 such as fields, etc., on the cold, bare ground, often among stones ; 

 scarcely a trace of a nest can be found where the eggs lay. They are 

 frequently deposited on bare rocks, and on the flat roofs of buildings 

 in large cities. Mr. Norris once found a set on the stump of a tree 

 about eighteen inches from the ground ; and a set in his cabinet was 

 taken from the gravel roof of a four-story building in the center of 

 Philadelphia. The Nighthawk and Whip-poor-will are often con- 

 founded or considered as birds of the same species. A careful compar- 

 ison with each other, or with the descriptions, will at once show a very 

 decided difference. The large, white patches on the five outer pri- 

 maries of the wings of the Nighthawk when flying, appear like tat- 

 tered holes caused by the shot from a gun. In the evenings of sum- 

 mer months great troops of Nighthawks may be seen high in air over 

 forest or town in search of insects, performing their wonderful evolu- 

 tions and uttering their peevish cries, or swooping down with their 

 strange booming or rumbling sound, they skim over the grassy mead- 

 ows. Thus they continue till the gloaming merges into darkness, 

 and their flight is seen no longer. 



The eggs of the Nighthawk vary from pale olive-buff to bufiy 

 and grayish-white, thickly mottled and dashed with varied tints of 

 darker gray, slate, olive, or even blackish, mixed with a marbling and 

 clouding of purplish-gray; the pattern and tints are very variable. 

 The shape is elliptical, and average size 1.25X.85. Six eggs measure 

 1.24X.85, 1.27x87, 1.22X.83, 1.24X.86, 1.21X.82, 1.24x84. 



420a. Chordeiles virginianus henryi (Cass.) [3570.] 



'Western Nigbthairk. 



Hab. Western North America from the Great Plains to the Pacific, south to Mexico. 



A lighter-colored form of the Nighthawk, found in the unwooded 

 portions of Western United States. Its general habits, nesting, etc., 

 are the same as those of C. virginianus; the eggs average paler ; size 

 1.20 X. 85. 



[420i5.] Chordeiles virginianus minor (Cab.) [3575.J 



Cuban Nighthawk. 



Hab. Cuba, Jamaica and Southern Florida. 



A set of two eggs of this smaller Nighthawk, taken with the 

 parent bird by C. J. Maynard, on Merritts Island, May 8, 1886, are in 

 Mr. Singley's collection. The ground-color of these eggs is of a clear 

 grayish-white, evenly spotted over the surface with brownish and light 

 slate, so thickly as to nearly obscure the ground. The markings are 

 bolder and darker than those in a series of twelve eggs of C. virgin- 



