The next day, chancing to go into the ; 
country a short distance from the city, I was 
accosted by a farmer' who gave me a Night- : 
hawk which he had found that morning in his 
field to weak too fly, and apparently dying. He 
took it to the house and gave it a little warm . 
milk which seemed to revive it, hut it soon 
died. Examining it I found it in a condition 
even worse than that of the Martin’s. Its 
stomach was entirely empty, and its body 
was wasted worse than I had ever before seen. 
The bird was full-grown, measuring sixty-one 
centimeters in expanse or about twenty-four 
inches, and its reduced condition could have 
been due only to starvation. The same 
gentleman told me that on the day before on 
letting down some bars, one bar fell upon and 
crushed another Nighthawk which lay on the 
ground near by, too much exhausted to move 
out of the way. Going through another field 
on the same day he discovered another Night- 
hawk on the ground before him also too weak 
to rise. This was taken to the house but soon 
died, doubtless like the others, from starva- 
tion and exhaustion. I was afterward in- 
formed by Mr. E. L. Moseley of Grand Rapids, 
that about this time a Nighthawk was also 
brought to him in an exhausted and dying con- 
dition. This measured fifty-seven centimeters 
in expanse, and weighed but fifty -two grammes, 
or about an ounce and three-quarters Av. Its 
stomach was empty, and it died soon after. 
On the day following, being still in the 
; country, I took a little time for observation, 
and was surprised to see dozens of Night- 
hawks flying about during the entire day, 
though the sky had cleared, and the sun was 
shining brightly. They all flew near the ground 
and appeared to be in an exhausted condition, 
alighting frequently on fences or on the ground. 
One flew close to me and perched on a fence. 
Moving toward it it flew up but alighted again 
three or four rods away. Again moving 
toward it, it again arose and again rested, 
which performance was repeated three or four 
: times, when it flew across a swamp. 
Now there is doubtless a cause for all this, 
and I think it can be justly charged to the 
weather. The unusual rains of May, extending 
into June, no doubt freed the air of most of the 
! insects upon which these birds sub- 
sist; and being thus deprived of their only 
food, starvation must necessarily ensue. More 
than that, birds of this class require more food 
than other birds to supply energy for their pro- 
tracted flight, as all their food is taken on the 
wing. I should be pleased to hear from other 
collectors on this same topic. Geo. D. Sones. 
Grand Rapids, Mich. 
