. The birds' calendar . thesense in which the rustling of leaves or thelowing of cattle could be so considered ; usuallythe only evidence of its presence is its indescrib-able squeak, as it flies hither and thither—in-visible in the dusk at the height at which itusually remains, its great cavernous mouth wideopen for catching the insects on which it chieflysubsists. It can sometimes be seen in the day-time, but the sound it commonly makes, as wellas the strange booming when it suddenlydrops from a great height, the production ofwhich is not understood, are rarely heard savein the twilight. The
. The birds' calendar . thesense in which the rustling of leaves or thelowing of cattle could be so considered ; usuallythe only evidence of its presence is its indescrib-able squeak, as it flies hither and thither—in-visible in the dusk at the height at which itusually remains, its great cavernous mouth wideopen for catching the insects on which it chieflysubsists. It can sometimes be seen in the day-time, but the sound it commonly makes, as wellas the strange booming when it suddenlydrops from a great height, the production ofwhich is not understood, are rarely heard savein the twilight. The night-hawk is among the few of the landbirds that make little or no pretence at nest-building, although many among the water fowlshow an equal want of skill or interest in thismatter. In general among land birds, the largerthe bird the more clumsy is the nest, and thisresults not altogether from the coarser materials, necessarily used, but in many cases from an evi-dent lack of the sense of artistic workmanship. i86. NIGHT-HAWK June The night-hawk deposits its eggs sometimes onthe ground, with perhaps the rudest outline ofa nest in coarse twigs, sometimes on the barerock, and they have even been found on theconcrete roofs of city houses. This gives rise tothe suspicion of a culpable lack of domestic zeal,but possibly such judgment should be modifiedin the light of the attendant circumstance, thatthe chicks are not born in the unprotected con-dition of most birdlings, but when they comeout of the shell they are downy, and densely soon the under side, which is an offset to the lackof nest-protection. According to the Darwin-ian scheme of development this is a significantconjunction of facts, but it does not necessarilysettle the case in favor of the hawk. Didnature first provide the thick down, and thebirds, observing the fact and taking counsel to-gether, conclude that under the circumstancesit would be a waste of time and energy to fash-ion anything elaborate ? Or shall we s
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