The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1896-08-15
WILD BIRDS ON HIGH ROOFS.
Lay Eggs on the Tops of Chi
cago's Skyscraper5.

Nighthawks Lay Eggs on the Tops of Chi
cagO's Skyscrapers.
The fiat roofs of ten and fifteen story
buildings may seem queer places for
u colony of wild birds to choose for nest
ing purposes, especially when those
birds have been accustomed to nest in
open fields ever since the first pair were
let out of the ark, but that is just what
has occurred to a big flock of night
hawks that can be seen every evening
high III the air over the downtown dis
trict.
Whether the gravel roofs are so thick
hat the queer bird has mistaken them
for reel fields, or whether their great
height and their inaccessibility to small
boys were the Inducements, it is never
theless true that almost every sky
scraper in the city in the downtown
district is just now lodging n family of
tenants on its roof who do not pay rent.
In his natural haunts the ~nighthawll,
who is the first cousin of |whippoorwill,
and a member of the goat-sucker fam
lily, lays its two odd looking eggs on the
bare ground in an open field. 1t makes
no nest whatever, and that is the rca-
son why egg collectors find it so hard
to discover. The eggs are so thickIy
covered with dirty brown spots that
when the bird has risen the eggs are
frequently stepped on before they are
seen. 1t may he this that has driven the
flock of birds to raise their families
where nobody ever steps except the jan
itor, who is commonly supposed never
to see anything.
The nighthawks are not very partic-
ular what part they choose for n nest
ing site, and it is as common to find
them in the middle of the root exposed
to the rain and storm, as in the shelter
of a chimney or projecting wall. 1t
is all the same to the bird whether it
rains or shines, for his plumage is so
thick that water runs off his back just
as it does from n duck, and the mother
bird frequently leaves her eggs uncov-
cred when the day Is warm for long in
~tervals without any serious damage.
The color of the bird is so nearly like
hat of the spot where the eggs are
placed that a person with more than an
average sharp sight may stand within
three feet of the sitting bird and not
see it. When one of the birds is flushed
from a roof, however, there is a surprise
purity " UlG AuS1CT, lOT III Tic hTSJ
note which the bird utters after rising,
every bird within hearing distance is
up and away, and it is usually several
hours before they will return to their
haunts no matter how slight the orig
inal disturbance may have been. Usu-
ally only one family occupies the same
roof, but it is surprising how many
birds may be flushed in this way. On
any cloudy evening the cries of fifty of
these strange birds may be heard by
standing on any corner of the down
town streets
Nobody has ever found out how the
birds are taught to fly from the top of
a fifteen story building, but it seems
probable that their first lessons consist
of short trips within the boundaries
of the gravel root where they were
Matched.
During the hottest part of the sum
mer days the birds who have no families
of their own to take care Of sit with
their big black eyes half closed on the
edge of some projecting wall, ready to
launch themselves off into space at the
first alarm. Unlike other birds the
n~ighthawk never roosts crosswise of n
limb or branch, but perches parallel
with it, probably because it's feet are
not strong enough to hold on tightly.
The n~ighthawk, like the whippoor-
will, does not rest until late, and it
is now the height of the nesting season
for the flock which has taken up its res
idence in Chicago. Thus far only n few
nests have been disturbed by the egg
collector, and as the janitors of tall
buildings are not disposed to let med
dlesome boys upon the roofs where the
birds are it is quite probable that most
of h young birds which are just low
coming from the eggs will grow to be
useful members of Chicago bird society.
Chicago Tribune.