night-hawk 
3992 
about the middle of April and passes the summer, it is 
quite locally distributed, being very common in some 
places, and rare in or absent from others apparently equal- 
ly suited to its habits. It haunts woods, copses, and hedge- 
rows, especially where the soil is rich and moist, and is so 
g 
2 
color, placing them on the ground with little or no nest. 
The bird is migratory, and retires beyond the United States 
in the autumn. There are several other species of the same 
enus, as C. henryi and C. texensis. 
. The night-jar or goatsucker, Ca/primttigv* 
europtfus, [Eng.] 3. due of certain petrels 
of the geuus (Estrelata : as, the white night-hatrl- 
or mutton-bird, (E. Ifssoni. 
night-heron (nlt'her"on), . A heron of cre- 
puscular or somewhat'noctiirnal habits. There 
are several species, of most parts of the world, belonging 
to the family Ardeidce, and genera Nycliardea or Nyctico- 
rax and Ni/ctherodius. The common European bird t 
which the name night-heron (and also night-raven) was 
originally applied is Ardea nycticorax of the older writers, 
now Nyctiardea nycticorax, N. gardeni, Nycticorax griseux, 
Night-heron (Nyctiardea g rista ?. 
etc. The bird is 2 feet long and 41 inches in extent of 
wings ; the crown and middle of the back are glossy black- 
ish-green, and most other parts are bluish-gray with a li- 
lac or lavender tinge, the forehead, throat-line, and under 
parts being whitish. Two or three very long white fila- 
mentous feathers spring from the back of the head ; the 
eyes are red, the bill is black, and the lores and legs are 
greenish. The sexes are alike. The young are very differ- 
ent, being some shade of dingy brown or chocolate-brown, 
boldly spotted with white. Night-herons nest in heronries, 
sometimes of vast extent ; they build a bulky frail nest of 
twigs, and lay 3 or 4 eggs of a pale-green color, 2 inches 
long by 1 in breadth. The common night-heron of the 
United States is not specifically distinct from the fore- 
going ; it is popularly called qua-bird and squawk, from its 
cry. The night-herons of the genus Nyctherodius are quite 
different. N. violaceus is the yellow-crowned night-heron, 
common in the southern United States. 
night-house (nit'hous), n. A tavern or public- 
house permitted to be open during the night. 
[Eng.] 
The coach-stands in the larger thoroughfares are de- 
serted ; the night-houses are closed. 
Dickens, Sketches, Scenes, i. 
nightingale 1 (m'tiu-gal), n. [< ME. nightin- 
gale, nigtingale (with unorig. medial n), nighte- 
gale, nyghtgale, < AS. nihlegale, nihtegala, nehte- 
gaU (in old glosses also naectegale, necttegalae, 
nictigalae, a nightingale, also rarely a night- 
raven) (= OS. nahtigala = MD. nachtegale, 
D. nacJttegaal = OHG. nahtagala, nahtigala, 
MHG. nahtegale, nahtegal, G. nachtigall; cf. 
mod. Icel. natrgali = Sw. nciktergal = Dan. nat- 
tergal, after G.), a nightingale, < niht, gen. 
nihte, night, + *gale, singer, < galan, sing: see 
_ gale*.] 1 . A small sylviine bird of Europe, Asia, 
and Africa, belonging to the order Passeres, 
the suborder Oseines, the family Sylviidte, and 
the genus Datdias. There are two kinds, formerly 
regarded as specifically identical, and variously called by 
ornithologists Motacitta or Sylvia or Philomela or Luscinia 
luscinia or philomela, and by other New Latin names. The 
two kinds are most commonly distinguished as Daulias 
luscinia or D. mm, the true nightingale, and D. philomela. 
The former is the one which is common in Great Britain, 
and to which the name nightingale specially pertains. The 
poets call both birds philomel or Philomela. The famous 
song of the nightingale, heard chiefly at night, is the love- 
song of the male, which ceases as soon as his propensities 
are gratified, as is usual with birds. The nightingale is 
migratory, like nearly all insectivorous birds of the north- 
ern hemisphere, extending its migrations far to the north 
of Kurope in the spring. In England, where it appears 
Nightingale Manilas luscitlia). 
secretive as to be oftener heard than seen. The favorite 
food of the nightingale is the larva? of insects, especially 
the hymenopters, as wasps and ants. The nest is placed 
on the ground or near it ; the eggs are 4 or 5 in number, 
pale olive-brown, about J inch long by a little over } inch 
broad. The length of the bird is 6f inches ; its extent of 
wings is 10J inches. The sexes are alike reddish-brown 
above, below pale grayish-brown, whitening on the throat 
and belly, the tail being brownish-red. This nightingale 
is sometimes specified as the brake-nightingale, when the 
other species (D. philomela) is called thrush-nigldingale. 
This sotted preest, who was gladder than he? 
Was never brid gladder agayn the day, 
Ne nyghtingale in the sesoun of May, 
Nas never noon that luste bet to singe. 
Chaucer, Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. ,182. 
The nightingale, if she should sing by day, 
When every goose is cackling, would be thought 
No better a musician than the wren. 
Shak., M. of V., v. I. 104. 
2. Some bird which sings sweetly and hence 
is likened to or mistaken for a nightingale. 
Thus, the bird called Virginia nightingale is a finch, the 
cardinal grosbeak, Cardinalis viryinianus; that called In- 
dian nightingale is a kind of thrush, Kiltacincla macrura. 
Persian nightingales are various bulbuls of the family 
Pycnonotidoe. (See Pycnonotus.) The mock nightingale 
is the black-capped warbler, Sylvia atricapilla. Iiiatl 
nightingale, the sedge-warbler, Acrocephalus phragmi- 
tis, Scotch nightingale, the Irish nightingale. [Local, 
Eng.] 
nightingale 2 (m'tin-gal). n. [So called after 
Florence Nightingale, conspicuous as a hospi- 
tal nurse in the Crimean war and later. The 
surname Nightingale is derived from the name 
of the bird: see nightingale^.] A sort of flan- 
nel scarf, with sleeves, designed to be worn by 
persons confined to bed. It was largely used 
by the sick and wounded in the Franco-German 
war, 1870-1. Imp. Diet. 
nightingalize (ni'tin-gal-Iz), v. i.; pret. and 
pp. nightingatizedj-pipr.mghtingalizing. [< night- 
ingale 1 + -ise.~] To sing like a nightingale. 
[Rare.] 
He sings like a lark when at mom he arises, 
And when evening comes he nightingalizet. 
Southey, Nondescripts, viii. (Davies.) 
nightish (ni'tish), a. [< night + -is-fil.] Per- 
taining to night, or attached to the night. 
But if thou chaunce to fall to check, and force on erie fowle, 
Thou shalt be worse detested then than is the nightish 
owle. Turberville, The Lover. (Richardson.) 
night-jar (nit 'jar), n. A bird, Capnmulgiis 
eitropwiiH, of the family Caprimulgida;. The name 
is sometimes extended to all the goatsuckers or birds 
of the same family. Also called night-churr, night-craw, 
churn-oicl, fern-owl, etc. 
And with a sudden rush from behind the citron's shade 
the night-jar tumbled out upon the evening air. 
P. Robinson, Under the Sun, p. 66. 
night-key (nlt'ke), n. A key for opening a 
door that is fitted with a night-latch. 
nightmare 
night-lamp (nit'lamp), . A lamp specially 
adapted to be kept burning during the night in 
u bedroom. 
Thou art staring at the wall, 
Where the dying night-lamp flickers, and the shadows rise 
and fall. Tennyson, Locksley Hall. 
night-latch (mt'lach), n. A form of door-lock 
with a spring-latch which may be opened by a 
knob or handle from the inside, but only by a 
kev from the outside. 
nightleSS (nit'les), a. [< night + -less.] Hav- 
ing no night: as. the iiii/lit/cxx period in the arc- 
tic regions. 
night-light (nit 'lit), . 1. An artificial light 
intended to be kept burning all night. 
Here the night-light flickering in my eyes 
Awoke me. Tennyson, Sea Dreams. 
Specifically (a) A short thick candle with a wick small in 
proportion and arranged so as to give a small flame for 
many hours, (ft) A short wick attached to a float which 
rests on the surface of oil in a vessel. 
2. A phosphorescent marine infusorian, XorH- 
luca miliarix. 
night-line (nit'liu), . A fish-line set over- 
night. 
The . . . boys . . . took to fishing in all ways, and es- 
pecially by means of night-lines. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, i. 9. 
night-liner (nit'li"ner), n. 1. One of a line or 
class of public vehicles which stand all night 
in the streets to pick up passengers. 2. The 
driver of such a conveyance. [Colloq. in both 
senses.] 
night-long (nit'16ng), a. [< ME. 'nightlong. < 
AS. nihtlang, nihtlong, < niht, night, + lantj, 
long. Cf. nightlong, adv.] Lasting a night. 
Sleep, kinsman thou to death and trance 
And madness, thou hast forged at last 
A night-long Present of the Past 
In which we went thro' summer France. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, Ixxi. 
nightlongt (nit'long), adv. [< ME. nihtlonge, 
mhtlongfn, < AS. nili flanges (= MHG. nahtlanc 
= Icel. ndttlengia, cf . neut. ndttlangt), with gen. 
suffix, < nihtlang, adj., night-long: see night- 
long, a.] Through the night. 
nightly (nit'li), a. [< ME. "nightly, nihtlic, < 
AS. nihtlic (= D. nachtelijk = MLG. nachtlik = 
OHG. nahtlih, MHG. nachtlich, G. naehttteh = 
Icel. itcetrligr = Sw. nattlig = Dan. natliy), < 
niht, night: see night and -ly 1 .] 1. Happening 
or appearing in the night: as, nightly dews. 
A fortnight hold we this solemnity, 
In nightly revels and new jollity. 
Shak., M. N. D., v. 1. 376. 
A cobweb spread above a blossom is sufficient to protect 
it from nightly chill. Tyndall, Radiation, 16. 
2. Taking place or performed every night. 
Hell heard her curses from the realms profound, 
And the red fiends that walk the nightly round. 
Pope, Iliad, ix. 686. 
3. Used in the night. 
For with the nightly linen that she wears 
He pens her piteous clamours in her head. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 680. 
=Syn. Nightly, Nocturnal. The former is the more famil- 
iar. Nightly tends to limitation to that which occurs 
every night (see definition 2), while nocturnal tends to 
cover both that which belongs to the night, as nocturnal 
insects, flowers, vision, and that which exists or occurs, 
however accidentally, in the night, as a nocturnal ramble. 
nightly (nit'li), adv. [< nightly, a.] If. By 
night. 
Chain me with roaring bears, 
Or shut me nightly in a charnel-house. 
Shak., R. and J., iv. 1. 81. 
2. Every night. 
And nightly to the list'ning earth 
Repeats the story of her birth. 
Addison, Paraphrase of Ps. xix. 
night-magistrate (nit'maj"is-trat), . A con- 
stable of the night; the head of a watch-house. 
night-man (nit'man), n. [= Dan. nutmiind, a 
scavenger, = Sw. nattman, a headsman, execu- 
tioner.] 1. One who is on duty at night, as a 
watchman. 2. A scavenger whose business is 
the cleaning of ash-pits and privies in the night. 
It has been frequently observed that nightmen, on de- 
scending into the pits of privies, have been attacked with 
serious indisposition on breaking the crust, and not a few 
have perished. Dunglison, Elements of Hygiene, i. 3. 
nightmare (nit 'mar), . [< ME. iiightemare, 
nigtmare (not in AS.) (= MD. naclttmcere, D. 
nticlitmerrie = MLG. nachtmdr = G. nachtmah r); 
< night + mare 2 .] 1. An incubus or evil spirit 
that oppresses people during sleep. 
S. Withold footed thrice the old ; 
He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold ; 
Bid her alight, 
And her troth plight. 
And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee! 
.<?Ac*., Lear, iii. 4. 126. 
