Chapter D: B. Burrows, in some notes sent to Major Bendire (1895) says (3)

The only other nests of this subspecies that I have seen were on some low, sandy islands in Galveston Bay, Tex., where several pairs were breeding on May 4, 1923; two nests were seen, the eggs lying in slight hollows in the bare sand, in such situations as might be chosen by least terns. In some of the southern cities this nighthawk has developed the habit of nesting on the flat, gravel roofs of buildings, after the manner of the species elsewhere.

_Eggs._--The eggs of the Florida nighthawk are similar to those of the eastern nighthawk but will average somewhat more heavily marked with darker colors and are somewhat smaller. The measurements of 38 eggs average 28.86 by 21.23 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =31.75= by 21.59, 31.59 by =22.61=, =26.42= by 20.32, and 28.20 by =20.10= millimeters.

The habits of the Florida nighthawk are not essentially different from those of its northern relative; the two are not easily recognizable in life; and the two forms are seen on migrations all through the Southern States, where heavy flights often occur. R. J. Longstreet noted an unusually heavy flight at Daytona Beach on May 11, 1926; “in about an hour, from 6 to 7 p. m., he estimated that about 3,000 birds passed north over the beach” (Howell, 1932).

Heavy flights also occur on the fall migration, mainly during August, when formerly large numbers of “bullbats,” as they were locally called, were shot for food or sport. Dr. Chapman (1888), writing of Gainesville, Fla., in 1888, said: “‘Bullbat,’ or as it is more frequently termed, ‘Bat,’ shooting is here a popular pastime, great numbers being killed for food, and in August, when the birds have gathered in flocks, favorite fields may be occupied at nightfall by as many as a dozen shooters.” This bad practice is now outlawed, and very wisely, as the small bodies of the nighthawks have very little food value, and the nighthawk is one of our most useful birds; it has no objectionable food habits and is so valuable as a destroyer of troublesome and injurious insects, such as grasshoppers, beetles, gnats, mosquitoes, and the destructive cotton-boll weevil, that it ought to be rigidly protected.

CHORDEILES MINOR SENNETTI Coues

SENNETT’S NIGHTHAWK

HABITS

The nighthawks of the northern plains were given the above name by Dr. Elliott Coues (1888), who gave as the characters of the subspecies “silvery grayish-white predominating above, the white below greatly in excess of the narrow, irregular or broken, dark bars, and little or no rufous anywhere.” It is a bird of the treeless plains and prairies, ranging from northern North Dakota and northeastern Montana south to eastern Wyoming, northwestern Iowa, and northern Nebraska. It migrates southward through Oklahoma and Texas, and probably to South America.

F. A. Patton (1924) says of its haunts in South Dakota: “The Sennetts Night Hawk, is a bird of a barren, isolated region, moving ahead and away from settlements, to a thinly settled section, preferring a dry, almost a desert region.

“Through the eighties and up until about 1890 this bird could be found much over the entire State of South Dakota. At present its range is confined to that part of the state from the Missouri River to the Black Hills, frequenting the Bad Lands section, well up in the foot hills, preferring barren knolls and stony places. Never have I seen the bird or its eggs in any way concealed by grass or vegetation.”

_Nesting._--The same observer writes: “A favorite nesting place is in a cattle or horse trail over a stony knoll destitute of vegetation and what sets I find are found mostly by the bird flying from beneath my saddle horse. * * *

“The eggs are laid on a rock or stones. No depression or formation towards a nest whatever, the eggs are plain gray in color and so blend with the rock that though they may be almost at one’s feet are difficult to see.”

_Eggs._--The Sennett’s nighthawk lays two eggs, the usual number for the species, which are practically indistinguishable from those of the eastern nighthawk, though they may average a trifle paler with somewhat smaller markings. The measurements of 9 eggs average 31.1 by 22.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =33.8= by 21.6, 31.5 by =23.3=, =29.3= by 23.1, and 29.6 by =21.5= millimeters.

_Young._--Ernest T. Seton (1890) made an interesting observation on two young nighthawks, which were apparently about three days old and still retained the shell tooth on the tip of the bill; he says:

I gently touched one of them, whereupon it crouched down
more closely to the ground; but its companion, rising,
hissed with open beak and snapped savagely at my fingers.
On being further teased they ran off, exactly in the manner
of young ducks, with outstretched wings and with neck and
body at an angle of 45 degrees. After running a few feet
they stopped, squatted as before, and closed their eyes.
This they repeated several times, but at best they only
made little progress, and each time on being overtaken the
bold one was always ready to fight. * * *

In the light of these observations it seems likely that in
some of the cases in which the Night-hawks are supposed to
have carried off their young, the latter had really run
from danger, or were led away by the parent birds.

_Plumages._--Dr. Louis B. Bishop (1896) has called attention to the fact that the females of this race do not show the characters of the race as well as the males. He collected a series of 13 birds in North Dakota, of which he writes: “Three females from the same locality taken in June and July--one of them a breeding bird taken with a typical male and two eggs--are similar but with the upper parts darker and the entire lower parts tinged with buff, which becomes ochraceous-buff on the throat. Two other female Nighthawks from the same region, one taken on June 11, and the other with two eggs on June 24, are quite different, the prevailing tint of the entire plumage, except the greater wing-coverts, wings and tail, being ochraceous-buff. These birds might readily be referred to _henryi_, but all the males taken or seen during the breeding season were unmistakably _sennetti_.”

He says further: “The pale colors of the male protect him admirably, harmonizing with the dull gray of the fences and rocks, perched on which he passes the day, while the darker colors of the female render her less conspicuous when seated over her eggs on the black soil.”

_Behavior._--F. A. Patton (1924) says that “these birds will perch on a hot rock in the blazing sun the hottest summer day, the rock so hot one cannot hold a hand on it. You would think they would cook, they however seem stupid, they seem to lack the pep of other Night Hawks, to get out and soar at twilight, but are a quiet retiring bird, and I have known them on a hot day to let one approach close enough to strike them with a stick.”

CHORDEILES MINOR HESPERIS Grinnell

PACIFIC NIGHTHAWK

PLATES 34, 35

HABITS

What was formerly part of the range of the western nighthawk (_henryi_) is now assigned to this more recently described race. According to the 1931 Check-list, it “breeds from southeastern British Columbia to southwestern Saskatchewan, central Montana, central Utah, and northwestern Wyoming south along the Pacific coast to northern California and in the Sierra Nevada south to the San Bernardino Mountains, southern California.”

Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1905a) named this race and described it as “most nearly resembling _Ch. v. virginianus_, but:--outer surface of closed wing grayer toned; lower tail-coverts and feathers of belly region more narrowly and sparsely dark-barred; and, in the male, white patches on throat, wings, and tail more extensive.” He remarks further:

In tone of coloration the male is much darker than in
either _Ch. v. sennetti_ or _Ch. v. henryi_. Altho somewhat
lighter than _virginianus_, this is in the direction of
pale gray and white rather than ochraceous. The extended
mottling of the otherwise blackish feathers dorsally is
responsible for this lighter tone, and especially notable
is the extensive silvery gray mottling on the wing coverts.
Yet this dorsal tone does not nearly reach the paleness of
_sennetti_. * * * The [white] patch on the outer primary
invades across the shaft to include the outer web; and the
same is observable of the patches on the tail-feathers.
* * * The female of _hesperis_ is gray rather than tawny,
and is thus at once distinguishable from the female of
_henryi_.

_Nesting._--Major Bendire (1895) writes:

A set of eggs of this subspecies was found by me on July 3,
1875, in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, some 6 miles
northeast of Camp Harney, Oregon, laid among some pebbles
on the bare ground under a little sage bush. The sitting
bird allowed me almost to touch it, and was very reluctant
to abandon its eggs, which were but slightly incubated. On
my approach, it ruffled its feathers and emitted a hissing
sound, resembling somewhat the spitting of a cat when mad.
Their favorite nesting places in that vicinity were the
crests of gravelly ridges, always selecting a well-drained
spot, where the rains could not chill the young or eggs.
Bare, rocky table-lands are also frequently resorted to for
similar purposes, and less often the flat tops of bowlders.
Extensive burnt tracts also furnish favorite abiding places
for them in the more northern portions of their range; in
fact, in such localities they are fully as abundant as on
the more open sagebrush plains.

Henry J. Rust (1911) tells of a nest that he found near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in an open space in a cornfield, where the scattered cornstalks and a few weeds furnished scanty shade for the young. D. E. Brown tells me that “on the prairies of Pierce County [Washington] the bird nests on small patches of gravel, where the two eggs blend perfectly and the bird itself is hard to see. In King County, I find most of the nests in burnt-over sections. The eggs are usually placed among the remains of a rotten and charred log, where both egg and bird blend with the surroundings.”

A. Dawes DuBois has sent me some notes on three nests found by him in Flathead County, Mont.; in one of these the eggs lay on a thick bed of coarse moss which covered the rocky ground for some distance around it; this was on the top of a high foothill. Of this nest he says: “The bird was sitting when I approached, July 16. When she saw me coming she closed her eyes and appeared to be asleep. By covering the large shiny eyeballs with the lusterless lids the nighthawk makes herself much more a part of her surroundings. The eyes are not shut tight; a narrow slit is left through which to peek. While I was in the tent blind, placed near the nest, her eyes were usually wide open; but if I slipped out at the rear and looked around the corner of the tent she slowly closed her eyes until only a narrow slit remained.”

Dr. Grinnell (1908) found the Pacific nighthawk “to be a common species of the Boreal and upper Transition zones” in the San Bernardino Mountains. On June 18 he flushed a female from her two eggs at an altitude of about 9,000 feet. “These were laid on the bare ground in an open place among the pines. Nothing but a few pine needles separated them from the granite gravel.”

_Eggs._--The eggs of the Pacific nighthawk are similar to those of the eastern nighthawk, but will average somewhat paler. The measurements of 38 eggs average 30.23 by 21.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =32.5= by 21.8, 31.5 by =23.1=, and =24.6= by =19.0= millimeters.

_Food._--Dr. Grinnell (1908) says: “A specimen shot at dusk, July 4, 1906, was skinned at 11 o’clock the next day. The capacious throat and gullet were found to be crammed with large winged white ants. By actual count there were forty-three of these and many of them were still alive, although it was at least fifteen hours since they had been captured by the nighthawk.”

Like other nighthawks this subspecies feeds mainly during the dusk of early morning and evening, but all observers seem to agree that it hunts largely during the day, even in bright sunlight. Its food consists of a great variety of insects, such as beetles, moths, ants, grasshoppers, and other flying insects.

_Voice._--This nighthawk indulges in all the characteristic notes of the species, but Mr. DuBois mentions a note that he heard on August 20, which is somewhat different; he writes: “For two weeks or more some of the nighthawks flying over the hill by the ranger station have been uttering a _click-click-click-click_--rapidly repeated and continued at considerable length. It is somewhat like a series of high-pitched quacks. Other nighthawks, flying with these birds, are calling the characteristic _peënk_ at the usual intervals. I suppose the rapidly uttered quacks to be the notes of the young.”

CHORDEILES MINOR HOWELLI Oberholser

HOWELL’S NIGHTHAWK

PLATE 36

HABITS

The 1931 Check-list gives the range of this subspecies as “southern Great Plains and central Rocky Mountain regions; from Wyoming to middle Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, middle and western Kansas, northeastern Utah, northeastern New Mexico, and southwestern Nebraska, casually to North Dakota.”

In naming this bird in honor of his friend Arthur H. Howell, Dr. Harry C. Oberholser (1914) characterized it as “somewhat like _Chordeiles virginianus sennetti_, but male with upper parts more rufescent and somewhat paler, the dark brown color more rufescent, less grayish, and the light markings much more buffy or ochraceous; posterior lower parts more buffy, and the anterior dark brown areas more rufescent.”

Robert B. Rockwell writes to me that this nighthawk is common in the region about Colorado Springs and that he has seen it in various other parts of Colorado, on the plains, in the valleys, and in the mountains up to 10,000 feet altitude.

George Finlay Simmons (1925) says that it reaches about its southern limit in the vicinity of Austin, Tex., and that its habitat includes “the plains; barren fields; cowtrails in pastures; roadsides and along railroad tracks; barren gravelly ridges, and gravelly surfaces in the open, barren hills; backland plowed fields; rocky hillsides; edges of woodlands; flat, gravelly roofs of office buildings in town.”

I cannot find anything to indicate that the habits of Howell’s nighthawk differ essentially from those of the other neighboring subspecies. Mr. Simmons (1925) says of the fall migration in Texas: “Gathers in flocks in late summer, mid-July to third week in August; migration begins early in August, and by the end of that month the local breeding birds have departed; hundreds pass through, August 10 to August 30, but the last have not gone until late in October. During one fall migration flocks containing as many as 200 to 300 birds were observed on the open prairies northeast of Austin. During both migration seasons the various subspecies of nighthawks mix up on their way to and from South America, so that identification of migrants is hopeless without a specimen in hand.”

The eggs are similar to those of other nighthawks. The measurements of 26 eggs average 30.2 by 21.7 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =33.0= by 21.9, 31.7 by =23.4=, and =26.3= by =20.2= millimeters.

CHORDEILES MINOR ASERRIENSIS Cherrie

CHERRIE’S NIGHTHAWK

HABITS

George K. Cherrie (1896) described this race from a bird collected on November 2, 1893, in the valley of the River Aserri, Costa Rica. It is a small, pale race, about the size of _chapmani_. Nothing was known about its distribution at that time, but it has since been found to be the breeding form of southern Texas, from San Antonio southward and into Tamaulipas.

Dr. H. C. Oberholser (1914) describes it as “resembling _Chordeiles virginianus sennetti_, but decidedly smaller; general tone of upper parts lighter and more ochraceous, the light areas more buffy or ochraceous (less grayish or whitish) and somewhat more extensive; and the dark brown areas of anterior lower surface less grayish.” He remarks further: “This heretofore unrecognized race seems to be in color most nearly like _Chordeiles virginianus sennetti_, though in this respect also near _Chordeiles virginianus howelli_ and probably in reality most closely resembling this form, which it adjoins geographically.”

Mr. Cherrie’s type specimen seems to have been lost; at least, neither he nor Dr. Oberholser have been able to locate it, but the full description of the type convinced Dr. Oberholser that “there is no doubt that Mr. Cherrie had in hand a male nighthawk of the _virginianus_ style in fully grown juvenal or first autumn plumage, not adult, as he supposed. Allowing for this immaturity, the characters that Mr. Cherrie gives are just those distinguishing the small, pale race which summers in southern Texas.”

The nesting habits, eggs, food, and behavior of this nighthawk probably do not differ materially from those of other races living in similar environment. The measurements of 43 eggs average 29.3 by 21.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =32.5= by =22.5=, =27.1= by 21.3, and 28.4 by =20.6= millimeters.

_Plates_

PLATE 1
GROOVE-BILLED ANI.

PLATE 2
GROOVE-BILLED ANI.

PLATE 3
ROADRUNNER.

PLATE 4
ROADRUNNERS.

PLATE 5
ROADRUNNERS.

PLATE 6

PLATE 7
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS AND YOUNG.

PLATE 8
NEST OF BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO.

PLATE 9
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO.

PLATE 10
YOUNG BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS.

PLATE 11
ADULT BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO ON NEST.

PLATE 12
EASTERN BELTED KINGFISHERS.

PLATE 13
EASTERN BELTED KINGFISHERS.

PLATE 14
EASTERN BELTED KINGFISHER.

PLATE 15
NESTING OF WESTERN BELTED KINGFISHER.

PLATE 16
TEXAS KINGFISHERS.

PLATE 17
YOUNG RINGED KINGFISHERS.

PLATE 18
NESTING OF CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW.

PLATE 19
CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW.

PLATE 20
YOUNG CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOWS.

PLATE 21
NESTING OF EASTERN WHIPPOORWILL.

PLATE 22
EASTERN WHIPPOORWILLS.

PLATE 23
EASTERN WHIPPOORWILL.

PLATE 24
NESTS OF STEPHENS’S WHIPPOORWILL.

PLATE 25
NESTS OF DUSKY POORWILLS.

PLATE 26
DUSKY POORWILL ON NEST.

PLATE 27
EGGS AND YOUNG OF DUSKY POORWILL.

PLATE 28
PAURAQUE (NYCTIDROMUS ALBICOLLIS ALBICOLLIS).

Nest and eggs.

PLATE 29
EASTERN NIGHTHAWK.

PLATE 30
EASTERN NIGHTHAWK.

PLATE 31
EASTERN NIGHTHAWKS.

PLATE 32
EASTERN NIGHTHAWKS.

PLATE 33
EASTERN NIGHTHAWKS.

PLATE 34
NESTING SITES OF PACIFIC NIGHTHAWKS.

PLATE 35
PACIFIC NIGHTHAWK.

PLATE 36
NESTING OF HOWELL’S NIGHTHAWK.

Transcriber’s Note:

Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like this_. Those in bold are surrounded by equal signs, =like this=. Words may have inconsistent hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged. Three asterisks separated by spaces indicates text was omitted by the author or publisher.

Most of the plates contain two photographs. The plate number and title were combined as a header. Details specific to each photograph are presented as captions below the image.

Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, reversed order, missing or partially printed letters and punctuation, were corrected. Final stops missing at the end of sentences, abbreviations and plate identifications were added. Duplicate letters at line endings or page breaks were removed. Twelve misspelled words were corrected.

Changes:
Page numbers in the Table of Contents were adjusted to match
related text.
Added ‘Plates’ to the Table of Contents.
Added missing word ‘by’ to protected from invasion by the wasps.
Changed ‘South’ to ‘East’ in description of breeding range of
chuck-will’s-widow.