108 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



were they labouring that the rustling of the leaves was distinctly audible 

 fully twenty yards from where they were at work. 



In the evening we went sugaring, taking the same round that we bad gone 

 the previous evening, but met with only a small measure of success. After 

 all this was not much to be wondered at, for the sky was clear and there was 

 a half-moon; the air, moreover, was rather chilly. Our bad luck among the 

 moths, however, in no way damped our spirits, for it was a lovely evening to 

 be out in the forest, and the birds rewarded us for all our trouble. The 

 hooting of the brown owls, and the weird cries of the screech owls were 

 occasionally audible, while on all sides was heard the " burring " of the night- 

 jars, at one moment sounding close at hand, the next far away in the distance. 

 At frequent intervals, too, a woodcock would pass overhead, his long bill 

 distinctly visible against the sky, uttering now and again his peculiar creak- 

 ing note. 



What strange birds the nightjars are ! Their flight when hawking for 

 moths has very little resemblance to that of any British bird : they flit un- 

 steadily hither and thither, with wings turned upwards at quite an acute 

 angle, and with a motion not unlike that of a Japanese paper bird-kite. The 

 white spot underneath their wings, too, makes them appear in the dusk as 

 though they had a round hole right through each wing. Their note, again, 

 is like the corncrakes', almost impossible to localize ; and, finally, they lay 

 their eggs without making any pretence at a nest whatever. This curious 

 habit may possibly be paralleled among the sea birds, but among all the birds 

 whose. eggs we have found, there has been no single species (if we except 

 those which utilize nests made by other birds) that has not made some 

 attempt, however imperfect, to prepare a place for its eggs. 



June 9th we spent in going over the Ordnance Survey Office. Southamp- 

 ton, and this day was consequently lost from a natural history point of view. 



The morning after (the 10th) was warm, but overcast and drizzly, and by 

 no means promising. However, it cleared somewhat later on, and we walked 

 over Matley Heath, across the upper part of Matley Bay, and up to the top 

 of the hill on the other side. It was still early in the afternoon when we 

 reached the top of the bank, but a very heavy black cloud in the north seemed 

 to promise a severe thunderstorm, and we made for home at once, having 

 netted, besides a lovely pale yellow variety of F. atomaria, only a few common 

 insects. We had taken several larvae, but none of them were recognized 

 except one B. jparthenias, beaten from birch ; one C. elinguaria, found upon 

 bramble ; and one T. piniperda, beaten from spruce fir. 



The only really noteworthy incident of the day was the finding of two 

 night-jars' nests, among the young firs in the enclosure which lies between 



