580 
BIRD-LIFE. 
five or six Longtailed Goatsuckers, which kept wheeling 
round my resting-place, and treated me with the most 
praiseworthy patience to their soothing song the livelong 
night through. I felt not a little consoled, I can assure 
my readers, for it made up for all my discomfort, as I 
well knew that the day was not far distant when I should 
he greeted by the warblers of the forest. 
This singular song is the Goatsucker’s chief weapon 
against its rival, though it is sometimes forced to defend 
itself in a more matter-of-fact manner, inasmuch as when 
two males are quarrelling about some fair partner they 
either seize each other as firmly as they can while flying, 
or tilt at one another for want of better means of deciding 
their dispute. As soon as one combatant has been put 
to flight the conqueror returns to his mate, and in com¬ 
pany with her rejoices over his victory, often clapping 
his wings, the better to evince his satisfaction, or, 
alighting on a neighbouring tree, further weaves his web 
of love, until she is fairly vanquished by his assiduity. 
These birds build no nest, but simply lay their two 
eggs on the bare ground in some suitable hollow, gene¬ 
rally under a bush. The eggs which I have seen are 
rather long, gray in colour, smeared or spotted with a 
darker shade,—in this way perfectly matching the colour 
of the ground where they are deposited. The female sits 
close, and seeks in her own way to defend her nest from all 
intruders; whether, however, as is said of the American 
species already mentioned, in cases of great danger, she 
carries the eggs away in her mouth, is not yet known. 
The eggs are generally found about the beginning of 
June, and the young are hatched about eighteen days later. 
They are hideously ugly, the broad head, large eyes, and 
covering of gray down, render their appearance truly 
