always, however, clap the wings when taking flight after churring. Often they do so with absolute silence, as silently as an Owl. No words can give an idea of the extreme beauty of the flight of these birds. In their soft moods they seem to swoon on the air, and again they flout, coquette, and play all manner of tricks with it. Grace and jerkiness are qualities quite opposite to each other. The Nightjar, when "i' the vein," combines them with easy mastery, and to see this is almost to have a new sensation. It is as though Shakespeare's Ariel were to dance in a pantomime, yet still be Shakespeare's Ariel. As one watches such beings in the deepening gloom they seem not to be real but parts of the night's pageant only—dusky imaginings, shadows in the shapes of birds. What glorious powers of motion! One cannot see them without wishing to be one of them.
The following are the different notes which I have heard uttered by the Nightjar, and have been able more or less to catch. There are many others which I could not set down: —
1. The ordinary "churr" uttered whilst sitting, either lengthways along a branch, or perched on the extreme tip of a young fir tree, or on the ground,[1] &c. I have never heard the bird make it whilst flying.
2. The "choo-oo choo-oo choo-oo," or "choo-ey choo-ey choo-ey," at the end of the churring uttered as the bird takes flight, and generally (perhaps always) accompanied with clapping of the wings.
3. The jubilee of gurgling notes, impossible to describe; also at end of the "churr." Whether uttered sitting or on taking flight, or indifferently, I do not know. Not so often heard.
4. The "quir quir quir" at end of the "churr," as above.
5. The beatification, as it were, of the "churr" itself towards the end, the sound becoming more vocal and expressive, and losing the hard woodeny insect-like character which it usually has. I have only heard this peculiar modification once, but the bird was quite near, and it was very noticeable.
6. The "quaw-ee" note uttered at and during flight, often immediately after the churring as the bird takes flight.
7. The "queek-queek" or "quee quee," uttered as above.
- ↑ On or near eggs or young, according to my own observations. Whether otherwise I do not know.
