NIGHTJ AR.
seats in- chairs, nml more than imir from llowoi-heds, as Hill as garden-paths. This lias usually occurred soon
afti*r their arrival ur shortly before their departure in the autumn.
On line still nights the Nightjar may ofton he seen rising from the eentre of a dusty road, dashing out of
sight fur 11 moment or tiro, and again ruining into view as it settles at a short distance further ahead. This
curious performance is supposed to be induced by the habit of dusting itself, in which the bird is said to
indulge. It is quite possible that this may he the ease, though, owing to the darkness, I was never able
to ascertain its actions on the ground.
During the autumn months the Nightjar may frequently he observed at dusk darting round the chimneys
and up and down the streets of towns in the neighbourhood of the son-coasl. 1 distinctly watched one of
these birds, through the gloom of an impending stOTm, alight on the roof of a house in Yarmouth; the
position ¡1 took up was lengthways on a ridge-tile.
The remarkable serrated claw on the centre toe of this species is frequently supposed by country people to
assist the bird in clearing the scales or down of the moths it captures from its mouth and bristles. Tor my
own part, I am of opinion that the true use of this singularly formed claw has not yet been discovered.
As the sun disappears the uell-kiiowu whirring noto of the Nightjar may be heard resounding far and
near through its haunts. Perched on the limb of a tree in the outskirts of a dense covert or a straggling
plantation, the bird gives utterance to the strange jarring sounds that, even when listened to at a short distance,
appear as they rise and fall in the silence of the wood, now loud and then almost imperceptible, to spring first,
from one quarter and the nest moment from an cat inly opposite direction. A warm still evening in June is
the time to study the nuto of Ibis singular bird; in cold, wet, or stormy weaiher, when the wind whistles
through the trees, the note of the Nightjar may be awaited in vain, or, at most, a single whirr will he delected
in some sheltered corner.
The food of this species consists, I believe, entirely of moths, beetles, and other nocturnal insects, It is
not only perfectly harmless, but most usoful in clearing off a superabundance of destructive insects. Fivcand
twcnly or thirty years ago I have beard one or two keepers in the southern counties declare they were
allied to the Dawk tribe, and the poor birds suffered in consequence. This exceedingly mistaken idea has,
I believe, now entirely disappeared, and for years I have never, either in England or Scotland, met with a
single guardian of the preserves who was not perfectly acquainted with their habits.
Nightjar and Goatsucker are the commonest of the titles by which this sj*cies is known. In some
locabtics it is styled the Nighthawk, Evejar, and Fern-Owt. The reason for the appellation of Goatsucker is
too ridiculous to need a word of explanation.
The two curiously marbled eggs of Ibis species are placed either on a clearing in the wood or thicket the
bird frequents, or on an open spot on n moor or down. There is usually some shelter from bush, bank, or low
shrub within a few feet of the spot where they are deposited. With the exception of a dead leaf or two, or a
strand of grass carried by the wind and lodged in the slight natural hollow the bird makes use of, Ihcre is not
the least suspicion of a nest.
The Plate shows a female with two young ones newly hatched. It is taken from a rough sketch made
of the group in a grassy valley among the South Downs between Levin's and Brighton. The eggs had
been laid on the slope of a hill facing the south, and were sheltered from above by a thick and spreading
furze bush.
S W I F T .
VYPSELUS APUS.
TIIK Swift may he observed in most parts of England anil Scotland, being distributed more or less plentifully
over the country from north to south. This species appears, ni-cordiug to my own experience, to full off in
numbers in the Northern Ilighhinds; there is, however, a large colony, which has been established for many
years, in the Cromarty rocks, overlooking the Moray Firth. I also noticed a small party, early in Hay ISTO,
near Durness, in Sutherland; and a week or two later my attention was attracted by a couple of pairs which
were screaming over the road between Castletown and Duunct DTcad, on the north coast of Caithness.
The time that the Swift passes in these islands does not extend over a longer period than between three
and four mouths. Though its visit is so limited in duration, this species appears able to withstand sudden
changes of temperature far more readily than cither the Swallow or Martin, bolh of whom arrive in this
country at a considerably earlier date. I am aware that some authors have recorded instances where this
bird has been captured in a helpless condition during cold and stormy weather; but not a single Swil'l has
ever eome under my observation exhibiting the slightest signs of being incapacitated by wet or cold, though
Swallows and Martins might be seen on all sides sheltering from the force of the storm. I particularly
remarked this fact on June 8, 1A71, at which date a gale of wind and ruin (succeeding several iluys of eold
and cutting brcc/es from the north and east) broke over the Norfolk coast.
The food of this species is composed entirely ofiusccls. As a rule, the Swift captures its prey at a greater
elevation than Swallows or .Martins.
I have never observed a Swift settle on Ike around ; and it. is probable that its nesting-materials (straw
or grass and a few small feathers) are collected while on wing. Incommoded by its long wings and the
shortness of its legs, this species seems unable to rise from the ground. I mw er tried the experiment hut once;
and then the bird was either incapable or unwilling to make its escape till lifted a short distance into the air.
For breeding-purposes the Swift, for the most part, resorts to cavities under the eaves of houses, or any
accessible niches and apertures they can discover in churches and other large buildings. In wild localities,
where situations of this description are wanting, they do not hesitate lo make nee or fissures and crack- in
the face of dill's or precipices. In several localities round tin- northern coast, nud in one instance in a
remote and rugged Highland glen, 1 have watched these birds Hying up and down the face of the rocks
without being able to detect any of their nesting-quarters. So rapid are their movements, and so instantaneous
the evolutions I hey go through while turning and twisting to and fro in front of the dill'-, that it is abno-t
impossible lo keep any single specimen in sight. As I previously staled, there is a large colony in the
Cromarty rocks; here they may he easily watched from the sands at the foot of the dills.