378 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
in the bright sunlight, and at almost any time of day, but it seldom feeds 
freely at such times, hunting mostly on cloudy days and particularly dur- 
ing the morning and evening twilight. During moonlight nights it may 
fly all night, but except when feeding young this does not seem to be 
its usual custom. 
During the mating season the male rises to a considerable height and then 
suddenly dives toward the earth with incredible velocity, checking itself 
suddenly, sometimes when within a few yards of the ground, and sweeping 
upward again nearly to its original height. As it checks itself in its fall 
the air rushing between the primaries produces a peculiar roaring sound 
which has been aptly likened to the sound made by blowing into the bung- 
hole of an empty cask. When children we were told that this sound was 
made by the whistling of air through a hole in the wings, and the white 
spot in either wing was pointed out as the actual hole. It is needless to 
say that the white spot has nothing to do with the sound, which is similar 
to that produced by several other species under similar circumstances, 
notably by Wilson’s Snipe. 
This species is well distributed over the state, fairly abundant in most 
sections, and well known to most dwellers in the country. Under such 
circumstances it is amazing that it is so generally confounded with the 
Whippoorwill. True, the two birds are close relatives, but they are de- 
cidedly unlike in shape, coloration and habits. The Nighthawk has long 
pointed wings, each with a conspicuous white spot, a somewhat forked tail, 
and under parts strikingly barred crosswise with black and white. The 
Whippoorwill has comparatively short and rounded wings, a rounded tail, 
and under parts streaked and mottled but scarcely barred. The Whippoor- 
will is practically restricted to the woods, rarely visits the open fields until 
after dark, and seldom makes long flights in search of food, being content 
to flit about here and there, alighting frequently on fenceposts, boulders, 
or on the ground, in order to pick up insects. It is never seen flying high 
in the air by daylight, and finally its eggs are laid always in the woods, 
and though shaped like those of the Nighthawk are very differently colored. 
The food of the Nighthawk consists entirely of insects, the great majority 
of which are taken on the wing. It seems to be remarkably fond of ants 
and as many as 1800 ants have been found in a single stomach. These 
of course are the winged ants, the mating swarms, which fly in such numbers 
in afternoon and evening, particularly in the late summer. Beetles of 
various kinds are also eaten freely, and among them have been found a 
few Colorado potato bugs and striped cucumber beetles. In addition, 
flies, moths, grasshoppers, and an immense variety of other insects are 
taken. The birds become very fat in the fall and when moving southward 
in large numbers during the latter half of August they are sometimes shot 
for food, particularly at the south. Unquestionably they are valuable 
allies of the agriculturist and should be rigidly protected from destruction. 
Up to about 1897 the Nighthawk was a very abundant bird throughout 
Michigan, as elsewhere at the north. Each year, late in August, great flocks 
appeared in the afternoon, and sometimes for an hour or two the air would 
be fairly alive with them, all feeding more or less, but steadily working 
southward. Then followed a decade of rapid and marked decrease; migrat- 
ing flocks were no longer seen and it seemed possible that the complete 
extermination of the species might be at hand. Since 1906, however, there 
has been a decided gain in numbers, and with better legislation and the grow- 
