THIS bird is called a bat in some of the southern states. It is by many supposed to be the same bird as the whip-poor-will; but on comparing the two birds, the difference between them will be easily observed, and their manners also are strikingly dissimilar. The night hawk lays its eggs on the bare ground, in an open space in the woods, or in the corner of a field, where the color of the leaves and ground may resemble the general tint of the eggs. The male and female are constantly near the nest during the day. They sit lengthwise on the branch of a tree, instead of crosswise, like most other birds, their legs and feet being too slender to grasp the branch firmly. While the female is sitting, the male keeps a most vigilant watch around. He plays about in the air, mounting by several quick vibrations of the wing, uttering all the while a sharp harsh squeal, till, having gained the highest point, he suddenly precipitates himself head foremost, and with great rapidity, down sixty or seventy feet, wheeling up as suddenly; at which instant is heard a booming sound, resembling that produced by blowing strongly into the bunghole of an empty hogshead; and which is doubtless produced by the sudden expansion of his capacious mouth, while he passes through the air. This singular habit belongs only to the male. The female never descends in the manner of the male. When she is approached, she moves in such a fluttering tumbling manner, and appearance of a lame and wounded bird, as nine times in ten to deceive the person, and induce him to pursue her. When the young are first hatched, it is difficult to distinguish them from the surface of the ground; they sit so fixed and squat as to be mistaken for a slight moulding on the earth.

These birds are seen abroad at all times of the day; but their most favorite time is from two hours before sunset till dusk. They are very numerous

near salt marshes, skimming over the meadows in the manner of swallows. Their chief food seems to be insects. When wounded and taken, they attempt to intimidate you by opening their mouth to its utmost stretch, throwing the head forward, and uttering a kind of guttural whizzing sound, striking violently with their wings, which seem to be their only offensive weapons. In August they steer for the south in vast multitudes, darting after insects as they advance. They are often accompanied by twice their number of swallows.

The night hawk is nine inches and a half long; the upper parts are deep brown; the whole body is spotted and sanded with cream color and reddish. The tail is handsomely forked, and there are no bristles about the bill.

THIS is a very singular and celebrated species, universally known over the United States, for its favorite call in spring; yet, personally, he is little known. The notes of this solitary bird, seem like the voice of an old friend, and are listened to by almost all with great interest. At first they issue from some retired part of the woods, the glen, or mountain; in a few evenings, perhaps, we hear them from the adjoining coppice- the garden fence the road before the door, and even from the roof of the dwellinghouse, long after the family have retired to rest. He is now a regular acquaintance. Every morning and evening his shrill repetitions are heard

1 Caprimulgus vociferus, WILSON.

from the adjoining woods, and when two or more are calling at the same time, the noise, mingling with the echoes of the mountains, is really surprising. These notes serve pretty plainly to articulate the words, whippoor-will, the first and last syllables being uttered with great emphasis. When near, you often hear an introductory cluck between the notes. Towards midnight they generally become silent, unless in clear moonlight. During the day, they sit in the most retired, solitary, and deep shaded parts of the woods, where they repose in silence. Their food appears to be large moths, grasshoppers, and such insects as frequent the bark of old rotten and decaying timber.

The nest is built like that of the night hawk, on the ground; the young have very much the same appearance, though the eggs are much darker. When disturbed, the whip-poor-will rises and sails low and slowly, through the woods, for thirty or forty yards, and generally settles on a low branch or on the ground. Their favorite places of resort are on high and dry situations; in low marshy tracts of country they are seldom heard; in this they differ from the night hawk, which delights in extensive sea marshes. Their flight also is very dissimilar. The whip-poor-will has ranges of long and strong bristles on each side of the mouth; the night hawk is entirely destitute of them. The bill of the whip-poor-will is twice the length of that of the night hawk. The wings of the whip-poor-will are shorter by more than two inches than those of the night hawk. The tail of the latter is forked, that of the former is rounded. The two species differ also in size and color.

THIS solitary bird is rarely found north of Virginia and Tennessee. It has sometimes been confounded with the whip-poor-will. It has derived its

name from its notes, which seem exactly to articulate those words. It commences its singular call generally in the evening, soon after sunset, and continues it with short occasional interruptions for several hours. Towards morning these repetitions are renewed. This note instantly attracts the attention of a stranger, and is strikingly different from that of the whippoor-will. In sound and articulation it seems plainly to express the words which have been applied to it, pronouncing every syllable leisurely, and distinctly, putting the principal emphasis on the last word. In a still evening it may be heard at the distance of nearly a mile; the tones of its voice being stronger, and more full, than those of the whip-poor-will, who tters his with much greater rapidity.

The flight of this bird is slow, skimming about the surface of the ground, frequently settling on old logs, or on the fences, and from thence sweeping around in pursuit of various insects, that fly in the night. Like the whippoor-will, it prefers the declivities of glens, and other deeply shaded places, making the mountains resound with echoes the whole evening.

ORDER IX.-COLUMBÆ.

BIRDS of this order have the bill of moderate dimensions, compressed; base of the upper mandible covered with a soft skin, in which the nostrils are perforated, the tip more or less curved; feet with three toes in front, quite divided, and one behind. This order contains but one genus, but is numerous in species, and these are very widely dispersed over the world.

THE AMERICAN WILD PIGEON,1

CALLED also the passenger pigeon, is the most remarkable of this whole order of birds. It is about the size of the common domestic pigeon. The head, throat, and upper parts of the body are ash colored; the sides of the neck are of a glossy variable purple; the fore part of the neck and breast are vinaceous; the under parts of a similar color, but paler; and there is a crimson mark round the eyes. These birds visit the different parts of North America, in such immense flocks, that we may justly apply to them Milton's expression of "numbers numberless." Their habits and migrations, and the manner in which they are pursued by man and beast, are thus described by Mr Audubon. "The most important facts connected with the habits of these birds, relate to their extraordinary associations and migrations. No

1 Columba migratoria, LIN. The characteristics of the genus Columba, are, bill of medium size, straight, compressed, arched, tip curved; base of the upper mandible covered with a soft skin, more or less inflated; nostrils in the middle of the membrane; legs generally red; three toes before, entirely divided, one behind, articulated on the heel; wings with the second quill feather longest,

other species known to naturalists, is more calculated to attract the atten tion of either the citizen or the stranger, as he has opportunity of viewing both of these characteristic habits, while they are passing from north to south, east and west, and, vice versa, over and across the whole extent of the United States of America.

"The remarkable migrations are owing entirely to the dire necessity of providing food, and not merely to escape the severity of a northern latitude, or seek a southern one for the purpose of breeding. They, consequently, do not take place at any fixed period or season of the year. Indeed, it happens sometimes that a continuance of a sufficient supply of food in one district will keep these birds absent from another for years.

"I know, at least, to a certainty, that in Kentucky they remained for several years constantly, and were no where else to be found. They all disappeared one season suddenly when the mast was exhausted, and thus did not return for a long period. The same facts have been observed in other states.

"Their great power of flight enables them, when in need, to survey and pass over an astonishing extent of country in a very short time. This is proved by facts known to the greater number of observers in America. Pigeons, for example, have been killed in the neighborhood of New York, with their crops still filled with rice, collected by them in the fields of Geor gia and Carolina, the nearest point at which this supply could possibly have been obtained; and, as it is well ascertained, that owing to their great power of digestion, they will decompose food entirely in twelve hours, they must