THE NIGHTJAR. 211 



I have not unfrequently disturbed a Nightjar, 

 and on such occasions, when flying away startled, 

 its flight so much resembles that of a Hawk that 

 I have twice seen a keeper shoot one, ex- 

 claiming, " There goes a Hawk ! " I was not a 

 little surprised one day at finding one of these 

 birds in the middle of a turnip-field. We had 

 marked down some birds at the far end, and 

 the dogs were drawing cautiously on when one 

 of them flushed a Nightjar, which my friend 

 immediately shot — in mistake, as he afterwards 

 said, for a Woodcock. 



Notwithstanding what has been said to the 

 contrary, the Nightjar, Night-hawk, Fern Owl, 

 or Goatsucker, as it is variously called in dif- 

 ferent parts of the country, is one of the most 

 inoffensive birds imaginable. By farmers it is 

 accused of robbing cows and goats of their 

 milk, and by keepers it is remorselessly shot 

 as " vermin ;" but by both classes its cha- 

 racter is much maligned. Its food is purely 

 insectivorous, and it is as incapable of sucking 

 milk as it is of carrying ofl" and preying 



