NIGHTHAWK. 399 



suddenly spreading its wings and tail, a very peculiar booming sound was heard, which 

 may be compared to the noise caused by "blowing strongly- into the bung-hole of an 

 empty hogshead." This exceedingly peculiar noise, which is most frequently heard when 

 the birds are in a playful mood, shortly before and during the bfeeding season, is 

 undoubtedly produced by the wings. 



Even in broad day-light, when the sun shines most brightly, we may often see 

 large numbers of Nighthawks high up in the air. In the most densely populated cities 

 they fly over steeples and tall chimneys, apparently not at all minding the smoke and 

 noise. In Texas I have seen countless numbers late in April and again in September. 

 These multitudes of birds were either on their way to the North or South. They are 

 late arrivals in spring, appearing in Texas usually in the latter part of April, and in 

 south-western Missouri in the first week of May. In the vicinity of Milwaukee they are 

 rarely seen before May 15, and are not common before the last week of that month. 

 Their arrival cannot be overlooked by the careful observer, as they are exceedingly 

 numerous and very conspicuous while flying. All over the eastem.part of North America, 

 west to the Plains, and from the Fur Countries and Labrador south to Florida and 

 Texas, the Nighthawk is an abundant summer sojourner. It is found south through 

 tropical America to the Argentine Republic. 



Not being a woodland bird like the Whippoorwill and Chuck-will's-widow, the 

 Nighthawk's favorite haunts are open localities, where fields, meadows, and swamps 

 alternate with remnants of forest. While its two relatives prefer the dense shade of the 

 forest during day-time, the Nighthawk revels in the full glare of the sun. Although we 

 may often see these birds fly over the forest in quest of their insect prey, they are most 

 frequently seen over fields, meadows, and prairies, where they are gamboling wildly 

 throughout the summer in the late afternoon. The great abundance of flying insects in 

 our large cities has had such an influence on the habits of the birds, that they at present 

 breed abundantly on the flat Mansard roofs of the large ware-houses in the most crowded 

 parts of our large towns. These roofs afford them safe and convenient shelter during 

 the day-time as well as in the night. Scarcely can there be found better protected places 

 for the deposition of their eggs than these flat roofs. Man, the greatest enemy of bird- 

 life, rarely invades the seclusion of the Mansard roofs, and birds of prey as well as 

 mammals probably never molest the Nighthawks in the heart of the large cities. I have 

 found these birds breeding abundantly in such places in Milwaukee and Chicago. Origin- 

 ally they nest in fields, on rocks and in stony pastures, on the prairie and on hill-sides, 

 always in spots open to the sun. The eggs are placed on the bare ground or on a flat, 

 moss-covered rock, usually in a slight depression. The breeding bird and its eggs are 

 so similar in coloration to the surroundings of the nest, that they are not likely to be 

 discovered, except by accident or by the actions of the parent bird. On the flat roofs 

 of the large ware-houses they often breed in small communities. It has always been a 

 wonder to me how the eggs can be kept from rolling away under the breeding female, as 

 there is not a straw and no depression on the roof that can hold the eggs in their position. 

 ■ The eggs, two in number, resemble the stones among -which they are found, the 

 soil, or the color of the roof to such a degree, that they are rarely found, except by 

 the expert field ornithologist, who knows exactly where to look for them. "Their ground 



