NIGHT HAWK. 
9 
within a foot or two before she attempts to stir, and, 
when she does, it is in such a fluttering*, tumbling* man- 
ner, and with such appearance of a lame and wounded 
bird, as nine times in ten to deceive the person, and 
induce him to pursue her. This “ pious fraud,” as the 
poet Thomson calls it, is kept up until the person is 
sufficiently removed from the nest, when she imme- 
diately mounts and disappears. When the young* are 
first hatched, it is difficult to distinguish them from the 
surface of the ground, their down being* of a pale 
brownish colour, and they are altogether destitute of 
the common shape of birds, sitting so fixed and so 
squat as to be easily mistaken for a slight prominent 
mouldiness lying on the ground. I cannot say whether 
they have two brood in the season; I rather conjecture 
that they have generally but one. 
The night hawk is a bird of strong and vigorous 
flight, and of large volume of wing. It often visits the 
city, darting and squeaking over the streets at a great 
height, diving perpendicularly with the same hollow 
sound as before described. I have also seen them 
sitting on chimney tops in some of the most busy parts 
of the city, occasionally uttering their common note. 
When the weather happens to be wet and gloomy, 
the night hawks are seen abroad at all times of the 
day, generally at a considerable height ; their favourite 
time, however, is from two hours before sunset until 
dusk. At such times they seem all vivacity, darting 
about in the air in every direction, making frequent 
short sudden turnings, as if busily engaged in catching 
insects. Even in the hottest, clearest weather, they are 
occasionally seen abroad, squeaking at short intervals. 
They are also often found sitting along the fences, 
basking themselves in the sun. Near the sea-shore, 
in the vicinity of extensive salt marshes, they are 
likewise very numerous, skimming over the meadows, 
in the manner of swallows, until it is so dark that the 
eye can no longer follow them. 
When wounded and taken, they attempt to intimi- 
date you by opening their mouth to its utmost stretch, 
