As you will see from my name, I am a bird of the night. Daytime is not
at all pleasing to me because of its brightness and noise.
I like the cool, dark evenings when the insects fly around the
house-tops. They are my food and it needs a quick bird to catch them. If
you will notice my flight, you will see it is swift and graceful. When
hunting insects we go in a crowd. It is seldom that people see us
because of the darkness. Often we stay near a stream of water, for the
fog which rises in the night hides us from the insects on which we feed.
None of us sing well--we have only a few doleful notes which frighten
people who do not understand our habits.
In the daytime we seek the darkest part of the woods, and perch
lengthwise on the branches of trees, just as our cousins the
Whippoorwills do. We could perch crosswise just as well. Can you think
why we do not? If there be no woods near, we just roost upon the ground.
Our plumage is a mottled brown--the same color of the bark on which we
rest. Our eggs are laid on the ground, for we do not care to build
nests. There are only two of them, dull white with grayish brown marks
on them.
Sometimes we lay our eggs on flat roofs in cities, and stay there during
the day, but we prefer the country where there is good pasture land. I
think my cousin Whippoorwill is to talk to you next month. People think
we are very much alike. You can judge for yourself when you see his
picture.
[Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences.
NIGHT HAWK.
3/5 Life-size.]