. Bird-life: a guide to the study of our common birds . and fly away heavenward tocourse far above the earth in his search for insectfood. The Nightlia\\k, unlike most members of its family,has limiteJ vocal powers, its only note being a loud, nasalj»,//t uttered as it flies. But it has musical talents inanother direction. Sometimes in May or June, if youhappen to be where Xightbawks are found—for they arerathei- local in distribution when nesting—you may heara strange booming, rushing sound ; you will \ainly seekits cause until you chance to see a Nightliawk with set■swings diving earthward f
. Bird-life: a guide to the study of our common birds . and fly away heavenward tocourse far above the earth in his search for insectfood. The Nightlia\\k, unlike most members of its family,has limiteJ vocal powers, its only note being a loud, nasalj»,//t uttered as it flies. But it has musical talents inanother direction. Sometimes in May or June, if youhappen to be where Xightbawks are found—for they arerathei- local in distribution when nesting—you may heara strange booming, rushing sound ; you will \ainly seekits cause until you chance to see a Nightliawk with set■swings diving earthward from the sky. It is a recklessperformance, and you may suppose the birds object issuicidal, but, when within a few yards of the earth, itwill turn suddenly upward. At this moment you willhear the loud, humming sound, doubtless made by theair passing through the birds stifiEened wing-quills. Nightliawk K, being insect-catchers, are of coursehighly migratory. They come to us early in May, andreturn to their winter quarters in South America in Oc-. Plate XLII. Page 139. SWAMP , 5-90 inches. Summer plumage, crown bright chestnut; backblack, brown, and buff; breast grayish; belly white; sides plumage, similar, but crown «treaked with chestnut>brown, black,and gray. CHIMNEY SWIFT. 119 tober. During the fall migrations they often gather inflocks of several hundred, and as they sail about youmay notice their best field mark, a white spot in eachwing. Ifighthawks lay two elliptical, mottled eggs onthe bare ground or a flat rock in open fields, and, rarely,on a house top in the city. We see the ISTighthawk and hear the Whip-poor-will; one reason perhaps why the birds are so often confused. -Whip-poor-wiU, While the Nighthawk is darting through Antrostomusvocifertis. the sky, the Whip-poor-will is perched Plate xxvii. Q^ ^ rock or fence rail below, indus-triously whipping out a succession of rapid whip-poor-wills interspersed with barely audible c^i
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1900
