182 BIRDS OP ALABAMA 



taken sometimes in large numbers at the season when the 

 weevils are flying. 



FLORIDA NIGHTHAWK ; BULL-BAT : ChordeUes 

 minor chapmard Coues.* 



State records. — ^The southern race of the nighthawk is the 

 breeding form over the greater part of Alabama, north at 

 least to Hale and Shelby Ck>unties and probably farther in the 

 lowlands and river valleys. Breeding specimens have been 

 examined from Dauphin Island, Petit Bois Island, Bayou La- 

 batre, Abbeville, Wilsonville, and Greensboro, and the bird 

 has been seen, also, in the breeding season at Dothan, Castle- 

 berry, Seale, Autaugaville, Coosada, Anniston, and Gunters- 

 ville. It is a common summer resident over most of its range, 

 but is scarce or absent from some seemingly favorable locali- 

 ties. On the outer islands it is especially abundant. 



Spring migrants appeared at Autaugaville, April 17 

 (1912) ; Greensboro, April 18 (1891) ; the last were seen in 

 fall at Autaugaville, October 11 (1910). It is, of course, im- 

 possible to separate the migration records of the two races, 

 and doubtless some of the records given under minor refer to 

 this form. 



Eggs have been found at Autaugaville, May 16, 1909 

 (Golsan), and at Greensboro, June 10, 1891 (Avery). Holt 

 found young birds in a cotton field at Wilsonville, June 5, 1913. 



General habits. — ^This subspecies does not differ in habits 

 from the northern bird (minor). Its eggs are laid on the bare 

 ground, either in pine woods or in cultivated fields. 



SWIFTS: Family Micropodidae. 



CHIMNEY SWIFT; "CHIMNEY-SWALLOW"; "CHIM- 

 NEY-SWEEP": Chaetura pelagica (Linnaeus). 



State records. — The familiar swift or "chimney swallow," 

 as it is usually called, is an abundant summer resident in all 

 parts of the State. Its habit of nesting in chimneys results 

 in its being more numerous about towns and cities than in the 



'Chordeiks Tirginianus chapmani of the A. O. U. Check-list ; for change of name see 

 The Ank, voL 35, p. 208, 1918. 



