159 



THE NIGHT-HAWK. 



Chordeiles virginianus, Briss. 



PLATE XLIIL— Male and Female. 



The name of this bird disagrees with the most marked characteristics of 

 its habits, for it may be seen, and has frequently been seen, on the wing, 

 during the greater part of the day, even when the atmosphere is perfectly 

 pure and clear, and while the sun is shining in all its glory. It is equally 

 known that the Night-Hawk retires to rest shortly after dusk, at the very 

 time when the loud notes of the Whip-poor-will, or those of the Chuck- 

 will's-widow, both of which are nocturnal ramblers, are heard echoing from 

 the places to which these birds resort. 



About the 1st of April, the Night-Hawk makes its appearance in the lower 

 parts of Louisiana, on its way eastward. None of them breed in that State, 

 or in that of Mississippi, nor am I inclined to believe any where south of 

 the neighbourhood of Charleston, in South Carolina. The species is, how- 

 ever, seen in all the Southern States, on its passage to and from those of the 

 east. The Night-Hawks pass with so much comparative swiftness over 

 Louisiana in the spring, that in a few days after their first appearance none 

 are to be seen; nor are any to be found there until their return in autumn, 

 when, on account of the ample supply of food they still meet with at this 

 late season, they remain several weeks, gleaning the insects off the cotton 

 fields, waste lands, or sugar plantations, and gambolling over the prairies, 

 lakes or rivers, from morning till night. Their return from the Middle 

 Districts varies according to the temperature of the season, from the 15th of 

 August to late in October. 



Their migrations are carried on over so great an extent, and that so loosely, 

 that you might conceive it their desire to glean the whole country, as they 

 advance with a front extending from the mouths of the Mississippi to the 

 Rocky Mountains, passing in this manner from the south far beyond our 

 eastern boundary lines. Thus they are enabled to disperse and breed through- 

 out the whole Western and Eastern States, from South Carolina to Maine. 

 On their way they may be seen passing over our cities and villages, alighting 

 on the trees that embellish our streets, and even on chimney tops, from which 

 they are heard to squeak their sharp notes, to the amusement or surprise of 

 those who observe them. 



I have seen this species in the British Provinces of New Brunswick and 



