MR. J. II. GURNEY, JUN., ON THE NIGHTJAR. 75 
sometimes much less ; but Professor Newton has known one 
to go on for five minutes (Yarrell, ‘British Birds,’ vol. ii. p. 380, 
fourth edition). 
In the stillness of the night the Nightjar often utters a loud 
note, which Professor Newton compares to the swinging of a 
whip-thong, and Mr. Sterland to the syllable “ dek" which note 
it only utters on the wing, and which some have thought 
to emanate from both sexes. I believe the female cannot make 
this note, nor jarr, but only a chuckling noise, occasionally varied 
with a hissing sound. 
A young one in confinement, which never jarred, but made 
a loud note very like the “whip-thong” note, proved, when it died, 
to be a male. It uttered a hissing noise when disturbed but 
was very quiet in the day-time, nover moving an inch from where 
we placed it, not even to escape tho full brightness of the sun 
when it fell upon it. I once hoard a young one in the woods 
make regular jarring, though in a very minor key. 
Besides vocal notes, Nightjars have another way of making a 
loud sound, and that is by rapping their wings together, as Wood 
Pigeons do, tho two pinions coming together back to back with 
a clap, and this is more particularly when they have young. 
Nightjars have two eggs, and beautifully mottled they are. 
A Nightjar very seldom lays a bad egg; but, on the other hand, 
never has more than two young ones, and the pair are seldom 
the same size, indicating that one is hatched a day or so before 
tho other. It has been doubted if it rears two broods in a season, 
but, though so late a migrant, there is ample time for it to do this, 
and I have found eggs as late as August 12th. It never has a 
vestige of a nest to lay its eggs in. 
The young Nightjar can make a faint squeak when one day old ; 
at eight days old the young can run ; at thirteen, the serrated 
claws appear ; at fifteen, they make a sound which may be called 
jarring ; and at eighteen, they can fly. The habit of the old 
hen-bird of feigning to be wounded (Fig. 1) when discovered 
is well known, and is one of the prettiest of woodland sights. 
Another curious habit is that of moving the young if too much 
looked at, generally only a few yards, but sometimes too far to 
be found again ; with such feeble feet and bill, it is wonderful 
how this operation can be performed ; and, judging from the running 
