THE WESTERN NIGnTHAWK. 169 



were as familiar as the stirring of tlie pine Ixmglis overhead, and th(; fanning of 

 their wings almost as little heeded. A couple of young, recently hatched, Avere 

 found near the camp on July 27, 1887, showing that two broods are reared the 

 same year, or that its season of reproduction is quite protracted. The voice of 

 this species is quite unlike that of Chordeilcs texensw."^ 



In southern California it is a somewhat rare summer resident, but in the 

 middle and northern portions of this State it is not uncommon. In the lower 

 Rio Grande Valley, throughout western Texas, the* Plains, and the Great Basin 

 regions it seems to be generally distributed, and appears to be equally at home 

 in the hottest desert districts — like Death Valley, for instance, l)elow sea level — 

 as on the higher mountain summits in the Sierra Nevadas and tlie Rocky moun- 

 tains. I found the Western Nighthawk fairly common in the vicinity of all 

 the military Posts where I have been stationed in the West, and I have not 

 observed the slightest difference in its general habits, call notes, etc. from those 

 of its eastern relatives. 



In the lower Rio Grande Valley, in Texas, nidification commences occa- 

 sionally in the last week in April and lasts well into July, and here two broods 

 are undoubtedly raised in a season, while in the more northern portions I believe 

 one is the rule, and here eggs are rarely found before the middle of June, and 

 frequently not before the first week in July. Its nesting habits are also similar; 

 it breeds in corresponding situations, excepting, as far as I know, the flat roofs 

 of houses. I have not yet heard of their breeding on housetops in any part of 

 their range. A set of eggs of this subspecies was found by me on July 3, 1875, 

 in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, some 6 miles northeast of Camp Harney, 

 Oregon, laid among some pebbles on the bare ground under a little sage bush. 

 The sitting bird allowed me almost to touch it, and was very reluctant to 

 abandon its eggs, which were but slightly incubated. On my approach, it ruffled 

 its feathers and emitted a hissing sound, resembling somewhat the spitting of a 

 cat when mad. Their favorite nesting places in that vicinity were the crests of 

 gravelly ridges, always selecting a well-drained spot, where the rains could not 

 chill the young or eggs. Bare, rocky table-lands are also frequently resorted 

 to for similar purposes, and less often the flat tops of bowlders. Extensive bru-nt 

 tracts also furnish favorite abiding places for them in the more northern portions 

 of their range ; in fact, in such localities they are fully as abundant as on the 

 more open sagebrush plains. They are very devoted parents. Mr. W. G. Smith, 

 of Loveland, Colorado, writes me: "I had one swoop down several times at a 

 dog that used to accompany me, finally driving it away. I think the bird had 

 a nest close by and resorted to this means to protect its young or sitting mate." 



The eggs of the Western Nighthawk, both in shape and markings, are 

 scarcely distinguishable from those of the eastern bu-d, and the same description 

 will answer for both; on the whole, however, the lighter-colored types seem to 

 predominate over the darker ones. The eggs figured of the preceding species 

 will also answer for this, and the single Qgg figured of this subspecies can like- 

 wise be matched among the series of the former. 



' The Auk, Vol. VII, 1890, pp. 254, 255. 



