Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/656

NIGHTHAWK. 660 NIGHTJAR. branch, and at once become nearly invisible. Compare Wiuppoorwill. See Plates of Night- jar, GuACUABO, ETC.; and of Eggs of Song- birds. NIGHT-HERON. A heron of the genus Xycticorax, intcnncdiate in form between bit- terns and herons, but with shorter and thicker bill than either, and legs shorter than in herons. The common night-heron or 'quabird' iXycti- corax nyclicoraxj is found throughout all warm temperate regions. The American bird, a sub- species to which the name iiwcius is given, is abundant in America and is partly a bird of passage. Its longtli is fully two feet. Its plumage is soft, the general color ash-gray, pass- ing into black on the neck and head, and into wliite on the breast and l>eny ; the back of the head is adorned with three very long white feathers, which hang down on the neck. The young are very dilTerent — grayish-brown marked with white above, and white streaked with black- ish underneath. The nests are built in trees and usually many together, forming a heronry; eggs 4-fl, dull blue. ( See Plate of Eggs of Water AND Game Mirds.) The night-heron feeds chiefly by twilight or at night, and is never seen .stand- ing motionless like other herons, but walks about in search of prey by the sides of ditches and ponds, as its food consists chiclly of fishes, frogs, and other aquatic animals. Its cry is very loud and hoarse. Another species (Xi/cticorax tfo- laceus) is found in the Southern United States. Its crown is white washed with buff, and it is therefore called the "yellow-crowned night-heron.' It is more solitary than the connnon species, ap- pearing singly or in pairs, and is also less nocturnal. Other species of night-heron are foinul ill Africa and Australia. NIGHTINGALE (AS. mhlcfiale. OHG. wiht- agnln. (Jer. Snchtiijall. from -S. tiiht, night + gnlan, to sing). A justly celebrated migratory song-bird of Vest<'rn and Central Europe, which is a warbler, closely related to the robin redbreast, and as large as a thrush — the Daiilins lu.i<i)ii<i of modern ornithologists. It is rich brown in color, the rump and tail reddish, the lower parts grayish white. The sexes are alike. It is plenti- ful in some parts of the south and east of Eng- lanil. but does not extend to the western coun- ties, and never appears in Ireland. It frequents thickets and hedges, and low damp meadows near streams. It arrives in England aliout the middle of April, the males ten to fourteen days before the females. It is at this -season, and before pairing has taken place, that bird-catchers generally procure nightingales for cage-birds, as they then become easily reconciled to confine- ment, while if taken after pairing, they fret and pine till they die. The nightingale makes its nest generally on the ground, but sometimes on a low fork of a bush. The nest is loosely con- structed of dead leaves, rushes, and stalks of grass, with a lining of fibrous roots. Tlio eggs are four or five in niiinl«'r. of a uniform olive- brown. The song of the male ceases to be heard ns soon as incubation is over, and Newton remarks that it is not safe for novelists to represent it • as singing before April loth or after .luiie l.ith. In caiitivity, however, it is often continuous throughout the year, especially in roomy aviaries. The nightingale usually begins its song iu the evening and sings with brief intervals throughout the night. The va- riety, loudness, and richness of its notes are equally extraordinary; and its long quivering strains arc full of plaintiveiicss as well as of passionate ecstasy. The nightingale has been a favorite from the most ancient times, and is often mentioned in the poetry of India and Persia, as well as of Greece and Rome, but the bird referred to by these Eastern writers is in most cases a larger species {Daiilids philumeUi), the ■i)hiIomel,' "sprosser,' or •thrush-nightingale,' which is never seen west of the Rhine; or else a third species {Daulias llufhi) of Persia and Turkestan. The bird also has a place in classic niythologj' in the story of Procne and Philomela. Consult: Newton. Dirtiotiarii of Birds (London and New York, 1893-90) ; Burroughs, Winter .S'«H«/n'«c (Boston, 1870). See Colored Plate of So.ng-Bibds with Thrush. NIGHTINGALE, Florence (1820—). An Englisli pliilnnthio|iist, born at Florence, Italy, tlie daughter of Williaui Edward Nightingale, of Embley Park, Hampshire. Her attention was early directe<l to the condition of hospitals; she tiMvelcd extensively on the Continent to study such institutions, and entered upon a course of training in nursing with the Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul in Paris and at the Kaiserswerth institution on the Rhine. When the Crimean War broke out in 1854. she organized a nursing department at Scutari, and by her untiring energy" and extraordinary ability in alleviating the suffering of the sick and wounded acquired a world-wide reputation. At the close of the war she gave a testimonial fund of i.'iO.OOO to the founding of the Nightingale Home at Saint Thomas Hospital for the training of nurses. During the American Civil War and during the Franco-Prussian War she was often consulted on questions concerning camp hospitals. Among her puldications are: Xotcs on llospitals ( 18o9) ; otes on Xursinii (1800) ; Xotis on the iianitary iitntc of the Anni/ in India (1803) : and Life or Drnth in India (1874). Consult Edge, A Woman's Example and a TCation's Work (Lon- don, 1804). NIGHTJAR. A general term, derived from their nocturnal habits and jarring utterances on the wing, for the large family Ca|)rimulgidiC (i.e. 'goat-suckers'), which is nearly cosmopoli- tan in extent. Nightjars are birds varying in size from eight to fifteen inches in length : all have light soft plumage, in finely mottled shades of gray, brown, and white: and they bear many resemldances to owls in structure as well as in their nocturnal and crepuscular habits. In some particulars they resemble the swifts, and. like them, capture all their food upon the wing: and, as moths form a conspicuous part of this, the tribe has been called 'niothhunters.' In pur- suit of this prey they arc often seen in the dusk about pastures with the cows or ( in Southern Europe) with the goats; ami their habit of dodg- ing about the cattle after insects, together with their capacious mouths, led to strange supersti- tions which are entirely without foundation. The wings are long and jHiwcrful. and in the males of some species are furnished with long orna- mental feathers (see Sta.ndaruWino) ; while in others some tail-feathers are lengthened. The legs and feet are small ami weak, and the middle toe is usually remarkably long, and serrated on