The times., 1901-06-23
HABITS OF THE NIGHTHAwK.
A weI-Known Bird whose Methods
Belle Its Name.

The night hawk is bird often seen and
yet bird of which little is commonly
known. Its name would lead one to think
that it is night bird, but this is wrong,
as II does not roam about during the
night at all. Like the familiar song birds
of the woods il rests at night. 1t received
its name on account OF its habit of ap-
pearing only during the late afternoon or
on cloudy days A proper name for this
bird would be "a twilight Bird as it can
not be said to belong to either night or
day.
If YOU have ever lived on farm you
will recall hearing on some still, hot even
ing. whirring. long-drawn out note, high
above your head. and on looking up you
will remember how surprised you were TO
behold a small bird with big wings fall
ing straight toward the earth and then
how much more surprised you were when
the bird suddenly turned in graceful up
ward curve and went straight back again
into the darkness above. That was the
night hawk on hunt for its supper. Aft
er that first meeting you will remember
how familiar it grew to you and yet how
little you ever learned of it's habits of Hv
ing.
These birds winter just south of the
United States. They arrive in Indiana
with the heading of the oat and wheat
fields and stay until September. Some
times they summer as far north as the
Hudson Bay and winter as far south as
Brazil. They travel from one place to
another as a rule in scattered flocks- To
see these birds travelling is a sight not
soon forgotten. They will follow a river
or stream for miles and seem to use these
natural highways as their guide from one
home to another.
A hunt for the nest of this bird Is
hopeless task in some localities OF our
State, as they do not always breed. They
live in the field, end it is there you may
expect TO find yhe nest IL one is to be
found 1t Will be built on the ground,
and there will not be a straw or stick or
cord in the home. 1t will be just hole in
the ground for this bird is, above all
things, lazy, and if there is any material
other than the bare earth near the home
IL will be because the wind blew II there
or because it grew there. You will find
two eggs of a dirty color in the nest, pro-
viding some snake or gopher has not
made away with them Exposed as these
eggs are, it is a wonder the bird does not
disappear from the face of the earth
Nearly every animal that lives eats eggs.
The night hawk lives almost entirely on
bugs, bees, and insects They are SO swift
in their action that they have little diff
Guilty in securing square meal every
hour they hunt They are so marked that
Iflty can easily secure lliclI prey. 1ley
are dark-just "a twilight color-under-
meath. and the real distance they are
from you is matter of doubt They have
a wishbone-shaped white mark on the
throat by which they can always be
known.
The noise made by this bird when de-
scending is caused by its wings in contact
with the air. Its throat cry is a sqeuak
and unpleasant TO the ear. The bird is
very attractive when Ii flies about in the
air, as its curvingS are as smooth and
graceful as If they had been planned and
rehearsed for weeks. Such perfect control
does Ii have over its power of flight that
Il can drop toward the ground with light
ming rapidlty and when scarcely two feet
above the surface reverse its action and
sail again in graceful circles toward the
sky.-The Indianapolis News.