OF NEW ENGLAND. 297 
whit) and occasionally a rather harsh and guttural chatter. 
Mr. Nuttall says that the young havé a low, mournful pée-~ugh. 
It is probable, at least in New England, that few or no super- 
stitions are now attached to these birds. 
II. CHORDEILES 
(A) virernianus. Night “Hawk.” “Buil-bat.” 
(A common summer-resident throughout New England.) 
(a). About nine inches long. 
Tail forked. Variously mottled, 
or variegated. with a white, 
and 9 with a reddish, throat-patch. 
& with both a white wing-patch and 
white tail-spots. 
(b). The eggs, of which two are 
here laid about the first of June, 
are dropped upon rocks, upon the 
ground, or occasionally upon a flat 
roof. They have been found vari- 
ously in cities, pastures, fields, and 
woods. They are elliptical, aver- 
age about 1:25 X °85 of an inch, 
and are light gray, or brown, 
thickly and finely marked with li- 
lac, dark brown, and sometimes” 
slate-color. 
(c). The Night ‘ Hawks” have 
not been named altogether appro- 
Fig. 16. Night “Hawk” (4). 
priately, for, though to a certain extent crepuscular (belonging 
to twilight or dusk), they are not nocturnal. There is, how- 
ever, a strong resemblance in their general method of flight to 
that of certain hawks, as well as to that of the swifts, and the 
latter part of their name is warranted by their general appear- 
ance at adistance. They fly with ease, and sometimes, when 
favored by a wind, with much rapidity. They often mount to 
a great height, so as to be fairly lost among the clouds, and 
comparatively seldom skim over the earth, in the manner of 
