THE NIGHTJAR. 



{Caprimulgiis europcsus.) 



T N order of date, the Nightjar is one of the 

 -*- latest of the summer birds to arrive, being 

 seldom seen before the beginning of May, al- 

 though, as in the case of other species, one 

 now and then hears of an exceptionally early 

 arrival. In 1872, for example, Mr. Gatcombe 

 informed me that he had seen a Nightjar in the 

 neighbourhood of Plymouth on the 10th of 

 April, at least a month earlier than the usual 

 time of its appearance. By the end of Sep- 

 tember, or the first week in October, these birds 



