159 
THE NIGHT-HAWK. 
Chordeiles virginianus, Briss. 
PLATE XLIII. — Kale 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 
