Noctuidae

“ This is especially noticeable with such birds as are wont to frequent our large cities, which may be seen throughout all hours of the day sailing high in the air. Generally, however, it is most lively early in the morning and just before nightfall, when its supply of insect food is most abundant. But it is never to be found on the wing after dark. As soon as the twilight deepens into the shades of night all retire to rest as regularly, if not at quite as early an hour, as other birds in regard to the diurnal habits of which there is no question. ”

“ More nearly deserving the name nightjar, however, is our night-hawk, or bullbat, which is often seen flying swiftly about, high in the air, even before sunset, uttering a hoarse scream, or a queer-booming note, as it rushes, open-mouth, after unlucky insects.
All the birds of this group are insect catchers and eaters, and their mouths, which have only a tiny pretence of a beak, open exceedingly wide, so that they may scoop in a dozen little flies at once, or seize and swallow a great moth. Then the tongue is exceedingly sticky, like that of an ant-eater ”

“ The young larva of P. noctilucus is luminous, having a light-giving centre at the junction of the head and thorax; the older larva has also numerous luminous points along the sides of the body near the spiracles. It is remarkable that there should be three successive seats of luminescence in the life of the same individual. The eggs too are said to be luminous. The light given off by these Insects is extremely pleasing, and is used by the natives on nocturnal excursions, and by the women for ornament. The structure of the light-organs is essentially similar to that of the Lampyridae. ”

“ I imagine that the bird which sat twice for a short time only and churred on the eggs whilst alone was the male, whilst the silent and long-sitting bird was the female.
June 23rd.—Found bird sitting at 3.15 p.m. The Nightjar seems almost as good an example of protective colouring as any insect. It harmonizes to absolute perfection with the sandy ground, dry sticks, and pieces of fir-tree bark, amongst which it so often lays its eggs. My shelter was at some three paces of the bird as it sat, and I could distinctly see the outline of the latter part of its body, and one wing with the tail. ”

“ Butterflies are diurnal in their habits, flying between sunrise and dusk, and very rarely taking the wing at night. This habit is so universal that these insects are frequently called by entomologists "the diurnal lepidoptera," or are simply spoken of as "diurnals." It is, however, true that many species of moths are also diurnal in their habits, though the great majority of them are nocturnal, or crepuscular, that is, flying at the dusk of the evening, or in the twilight of the early morning. ”

“ Night watching involves prolonged exposure, unremitting vigilance, absolute quietness; and yet, to the most alert observer, it often results in nothing but disappointment and vexation.
Some time ago, during the moonlit nights of several months, I kept watch, near a “set” inhabited by half-a-dozen badgers, a vixen and her cubs, a rabbit and her numerous progeny, and a solitary little buck wood-mouse, whose close acquaintanceship I made after I had captured him in a butterfly-net placed as a spring-trap above his narrow run-way in the grass. ”

“ I attribute this scarcity of nocturnal moths to the multitude of night-flying insectivorous animals, chiefly bats and goat-suckers, which perpetually haunt the places where they would be found. On the open commons a moth is seen flying about in broad daylight which is scarcely distinguishable from the common English Plusia Gamma. ”

“ Because of its wide-open eyes the nocturnal bird of prey needs a subdued light like that of early dawn and of evening dusk. It is, therefore, at nightfall and at the first signs of daybreak that these birds leave their retreats and seek their prey. At these hours their hunt is a fruitful one, for they find the rats and mice, whether those that lurk about our houses and barns or those that live in the field, either fast asleep or on the point of going to sleep. Moonlight nights are the most favorable for the nocturnal bird’s purposes. ”

“ Night-butterflies never have the vivid tints of those that fly by day, and among the latter those of spring have clearer, brighter shades than the autumn ones. The gold-and-azure dust that adorns them harmonizes with the tones of colors in surrounding Nature. Night-birds, in the same way, have dark plumage, and the downiness of their coverings contrasts with the stiffness of those that fly by day. Shells secluded under rocks wear pale shades, compared with those that drink in the light. We have spoken above of cave-animals. ”

“ Many carnivorous species, which seek their prey at night, will also find advantages in such protective colours, for thus they will more easily escape the notice of their prey. Hence many nocturnal carnivores are black or nearly so, as the Mink, Fishes, some Bears, &c. The same principles will apply to birds, reptiles, fishes, and to insects, both in their larval and adult states, for many members of all these groups are very active at night, and hide away in holes or beneath dense herbage by day.... ”

“ HEN the other birds are sound asleep in their nests, with their little heads tucked comfortably under their feathers, Sister Nightingale, they say, may not rest, but still sounds the notes of her beautiful song in grove and thicket.
Why does she sing thus, all night long as well as through the day? It is because she dares not go to sleep on account of the Blindworm, who is waiting to catch her with her eyes closed.
Once upon a time, when the world was very new, the Blindworm was not quite blind, but had one good eye. Moreover, in those days the Nightingale also had but one eye. ”

“ The flight of the nighthawk is free and graceful in the extreme. Soaring through space without any apparent motion of its wings, suddenly it darts with amazing swiftness like an erratic bat after the fly, mosquito, beetle, or moth that falls within the range of its truly hawk-like eye. ”

“ The night-jar, a stranded nocturnal bird of early type, with very few modern improvements and additions, solves the problem in the easiest and rudest way by simply going without a nest at all, and laying her eggs unprotected in the open. Nocturnal creatures, indeed, are, to a great extent, the losers in the struggle for existence ”

“ The melody of the nightingale being universally admired, many lovers of birds have been induced to rob it of its liberty, in order to be possessed of its song in that dreary season, when it is absent from our climate. In a state of captivity, however, its notes are less pleasing, being neither so strong, so bold, nor harmonious. The bleakness of our winters chills its powers, and abates the energy of its vocal faculties; besides, it is of so delicate and tender a nature, that it cannot easily be kept alive in confinement, nor "brook the harsh confinement of the cage." ”

“ There is much that we have yet to learn about the mystery of hibernation, and one by one our ancient beliefs, founded apparently on the best evidence, are subjected to rude shocks. Yet, so far as we know at present, the noctule sleeps very soundly in winter, all its energies latent during that period when flying insects are difficult to obtain. ”

“ Being nocturnal in their habits, the pupil of the eye, instead of being circular as in the diurnal species, is linear and vertical like those of the cat. As soon as evening arrives, they emerge from the chinks and recesses where they conceal themselves during the day, in search of insects which retire to settle for the night, and are to be seen in every house in keen and crafty pursuit of their prey. ”

“ Unfortunately, the night fliers of the old authors do not all fly by night: some species, classed by the old naturalists among the crepuscular, or nocturnal, show themselves in the very middle of the day, seeking their food in the hottest rays of the sun. In the regions near the poles they appear during the day, and in other countries they are more or less friends of the twilight. ”

“ Like the wood lark and most others of the small bird tribe, the cock of the species is very frequent in his song during the time of incubation. The reason of birds being more constant in singing at this period, is to sooth and delight the female whilst sitting: it is also supposed to be a signal of safety to inform her that no danger is near.
The nightingale sits about fourteen or fifteen days; and such is her patience and perseverance, that neither the calls of hunger nor the approach of danger can force her from her nest. ”

“ This species of Night-jar, like its relative the Chuck-will's-widow, is seldom seen during the day, unless when accidentally discovered in a state of repose, when, if startled, it rises and flies off, but only to such a distance as it considers necessary, in order to secure it from the farther intrusion of the disturber of its noon-day slumbers. Its flight is very low, light, swift, noiseless, and protracted, as the bird moves over the places which it inhabits, in pursuit of the moths, beetles and other insects, of which its food is composed. ”

“ Regularly, as the time for sleep drew nigh, the old inhabitants among the woodland birds—the thrushes, the robins, the finches, and the wrens—squabbled loudly as they settled to rest: their favourite roosting places were being invaded by aliens of their species, that, desirous of breaking for the night their northward journey, dropped, twittering, into every bush and brake on the margin of the copse. And into Nature's breast swept, like an irresistible flood, a yearning for maternity. ”

“ One of the chief difficulties with which the naturalist has to contend while watching at night is the frequent invisibility of wild creatures among the shadows, even when the full moon is high and unclouded. The contrasts of light and shade are far more marked by night than by day; by night everything seems severely white where the moonbeams glance between the trees, or over the fields, or on the river, and the shadows are colourless, mysterious, profound ”

“ For some reason, perhaps owing to their small size and defenselessness against birds and beasts of prey, the great majority of small mammals, including hundreds of species and untold millions of individuals, are nocturnal or live such obscure and hidden lives they are unknown except to the comparatively few people who go much afield, with all their powers of observation alert by day and by night. Many of the mainly nocturnal species pursue minor activities by day, where shelter of one kind or another gives them a reasonable feeling of security. ”

“ The female glow-worm, the light-giver, is wingless; the male is winged. The latter, however, has but little of the light emitting power possessed by the female. Only the light-givers are collected, and being destitute of the first attribute of an insect, wings, are set down in popular parlance as worms. Old mossy banks, damp hedgerows, and shaded woods are the loved haunts of the fireflies, and the warm nights of the soft summer months most induce them to burn their soft lustre. Some widowed worm or firefly flirt may shed her luminous self in the darkness even on into dying summer or autumn. ”

“ Usually the nighthawks hunt in little companies in the most sociable fashion. Late in the summer they seem to be almost gregarious. They fly in the early morning or late afternoon with beak wide open, hawking for insects, but except when the moon is full they are not known to go a-hunting after sunset. During the heat of the day and at night they rest on limbs of trees, fence-rails, stone walls, lichen-covered rocks or old logs—wherever Nature has provided suitable mimicry of their plumage to help conceal them. ”

“ During the morning it roams over the fields, laying its inquisitive hands on every green and blossoming and creeping thing. The insects in the air, the fishes in the brook, the spiders in their webs, the butterfly on its stalk, feel instinctively that their hour is come, and converge spontaneously into their little tin sarcophagi. ”

“ BIRDS OF THE NIGHT. There are numerous swarms of insects and many small quadrupeds, requiring partial darkness for their security, that come abroad only during the night or twilight. These would multiply almost without check, but that certain birds are formed with the power of seeing in the dark, and, on account of their partial blindness in the daytime, are forced by necessity to seek their food by night. Many species of insects are most active after dewfall,—such, especially, as spend a great portion of their lifetime in the air. ”

“ It frequents cool and shady places, and is usually seen in hedge-rows or low bushes, as it delights in no high trees, except the oak. For weeks together, if undisturbed, it will sit upon the same tree, unless when moved to satisfy the calls of hunger. Shakespear, therefore, very properly describes the nightingale sitting nightly in the same place. Singing at night is a peculiarity common to the nightingale only, no other birds found in Great Britain exerting themselves at that season. ”

“ People often speak of flowers going to sleep at night, and it is perfectly true that many of them do close up their petals when it is dark. Some, indeed, sleep very early—our British wild plant, the goat's beard, is also called 'Jack go to bed at noon,' because the tops close about mid-day. We have other plants, such as the daisy and the dandelion, which shut their flowers early in the evening. But numerous are the blossoms that are open all night, both wild and garden kinds, affording food to night-flying insects. ”