European Nightjar - Nightjars in Human Culture

Nightjars in Human Culture

These lines are from the poem Love in the Valley by George Meredith —

Lone on the fir-branch, his rattle-notes unvaried,

Brooding o'er the gloom, spins the brown eve-jar.'

In Fern Hill Dylan Thomas wrote :

" and all the night long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars flying with the ricks."

The similarity to the whirr of a spinning-wheel doubtless originated the old name "Jenny-spinner". The duration of the trill may be for a fraction of a minute or for several minutes without a pause. It is continued at intervals during summer, and occasionally may be heard in August and September, just before the bird departs.

Its rounded head and short beak, together with its mottled dress, give it a peculiar reptilian appearance; little wonder that one of its old names is "Flying toad." "Nighthawk" and "Fern-owl" are names derived from its habits, "Dorhawk" and "Moth-owl" from its food.

Its weird nocturnal note and silent ghostly flight have earned from the superstitious the name "Lich (corpse) Fowl" and "Puckeridge", and "Goatsucker" is due to wholly erroneous notions of its intentions when flying amongst animals.