NIGHT HAWK. 49

and field, is the certain accompaniment of the dewy summer eve. What splendid powers of flight these birds exhibit in their aerial gambols, now mounting on steady wing till nearly lost to sight, then rushing earthward headlong with a [mom that makes the whole field of air tremble! In these movements they are constantly in pur— suit of insects, winnowing the thin air for the glittering motes that sport in the last rays of the setting sun. In late june they lay their grey mottled eggs in wild stump lands, on the bare ground, without the least sign of a nest. 'l‘he downy young are found in such places without the least protection, the picture of helpless desti— tution. 'l‘he quietness of the intelligent mother and her ability at decoying seem to be their protection, together with the fact that the appear- ance of the young is exactly that of the fragments of decayed and lichened wood among which they are placed. The first weeks of September, Night Hawks are seen in large flocks, sweeping quickly past in the high air, the individuals of the flock constantly crossing and re-crossing one another’s path. Now they are on the move to warmer skies

where insect wings forever glitter in the sunny air.