66 



NIGHT-HAWK 



my notes, that in passing to New Orleans by land, I first observed 

 this bird in Kentucky on the twenty-first of April. They soon after 

 disperse generally over the country, from the sea shore to the 

 mountains, even to the heights of the Alleghany; and are seen, 

 towards evening, in pairs, playing about, high in air, pursuing their 

 prey, wasps, flies, beetles, and various other winged insects of the 

 larger sort. About the middle of May the female begins to lay. 

 No previous preparation or construction of nest is made; though 

 doubtless the particular spot has been reconnoitred and deter- 

 mined on. This is sometimes in an open space in the woods, fre- 

 quently in a ploughed field, or in the corner of a corn-field. The 

 eggs are placed on the bare ground; in all cases on a dry situa- 

 tion, where the color of the leaves, ground, stones or other circum- 

 jacent parts of the surface may resemble the general tint of the 

 eggs, and thereby render them less easy to be discovered. The 

 eggs are most commonly two, rather oblong, equally thick at both 

 ends, of a dirty bluish white, and marked with innumerable touches 

 of dark olive brown. To the immediate neighbourhood of this 

 spot the male and female confine themselves, roosting on the high 

 trees adjoining, during the greater part of the day, seldom how- 

 ever together, and almost always on separate trees. They also 

 sit lengthwise on the branch, fence or limb on which they roost, 

 and never across, like most other birds; this seems occasioned by 

 the shortness and slender form of their legs and feet, which are not 

 at all calculated to grasp the branch with sufficient firmness to ba- 

 lance their bodies. 



As soon as incubation commences, the male keeps a most vi- 

 gilant watch around. He is then more frequently seen playing 

 about in the air over the place, even during the day, mounting by 

 several quick vibrations of the wings, then a few slower, uttering 

 all the while a sharp harsh squeaK, till having gained the highest 

 point, he suddenly precipitates himself, head foremost, and with 

 great rapidity, down sixty or eighty feet, wheeling up again as sud- 



