56 Capt. Blakiston on the Birds of the 
but the eggs lay where an old patch of buffalo-dung (which is 
deposited similar to cow-dung in the fields of England) had been 
turned over, and the ground for that space (say a circle of 15 to 
18 inches diameter) was consequently bare of grass. Dr. T. M. 
Brewer, in the 1st Part of his c North American Oology/ notices 
the great diversity of colouring in the eggs of the allied species 
C. virginianus or popetue; and therefore I am not astonished at 
the difference of M. Bourgeau's specimens from those figured in 
Dr. Brewer's plate. He, however, states that the number of eggs 
is limited to two; and therefore I wonder how it is that another 
species so closely allied has been found with three. Let us 
charitably hope that the Common Night-Hawk is sometimes 
blessed with more than twins ; or, if not, we may advise her to 
try a trip to the high western plains, where the invigorating air 
of the trackless prairies may benefit her constitution. I am 
sorry that the whereabouts of M. Bourgeau's collection is un¬ 
certain, or I might have brought the eggs of C. henryi forward as 
a novelty. With regard to the habits of the Western Night- 
Hawk, I may observe that the first time I noticed it at Port 
Carlton, near the forks of the Saskatchawan, was on the 2nd of 
June, when I shot one. On the same day I saw large congrega¬ 
tions about the river valley, in one of which there must have been 
from 80 to 100 individuals ; and as, previous to this, I was out 
every day with my gun in search of birds, and did not notice 
any, I concluded they were on their spring migration. Dr. 
Richardson, however, mentions the Night-Hawk ( C . virginianus ?) 
at Great Bear Lake, some 800 miles further north, on the last 
day of May. It was numerous at Fort Pitt, on the Saskatchawan 
River, at the end of June; and I found it on the eastern base of 
the Rocky Mountains in August. As another proof to add to 
those already known as to the misnaming of this bird Night - 
Hawk, I may mention that at a small inland lake on the buffalo 
plains I once saw half a dozen of them hawking about in company 
with a number of Terns [Hydrochelidon plumbed) in bright sun¬ 
light. I see that Mr. A. Murray has called a specimen from 
near Hudson's Bay C. virginianus; and Mr. Bernard Ross says 
that C. popetue ranges as far north on the Mackenzie as the Arctic 
Circle. Both species may inhabit the interior, but I should be 
inclined to think that western specimens were C. henryi . 
