Across the Fields. 



263 



Adults have the back light bluish gray. The top of the head and the 

 long tail (about nine inches) are black. There is a patch in the black of the 

 crown much as in the Kingbird, which is pale lemon yellow. The outer tail 

 feather is edged with white. The lower parts are pure white. 



Its salient characteristic is its long forked tail, black in color, the outer 

 feathers being edged with white. 



The Nighthawk is a bird in many respects resembling a Whip-poor- 

 will. In form he is much like that bird, but his colors and markings are very 

 different. It is when his life economy is looked into that 

 chordeiies virginia'nus we fiud a wide divergeuce, both as to habits in general 

 (Gmei.). g^j^j particularly as to the localities the birds affect. 



The Nighthawk seeks no dusky wood shade, but is a bird of the open, 

 preferring even in wooded country, clearings, and the more scattered scrubby 

 parts. The bird is about ten inches long. 



NIGHTHAWK. ADULT MALE. 



The upper parts of the male Nighthawk are black, thickly marked in an 

 irregular way with white and buffy, giving a general grayish tone to the bird. 

 The feathers of the wings and tail are dusky. About midway on the larger 

 wing feathers each is marked with a white spot, which spots form together a 

 noticeable white bar on this part of the wing. The tail feathers are barred 

 with buff, and all but the middle two have a broad white bar near their ends. 

 There is a conspicuous white band across the lower part of the throat. The 



