Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
NIGHT-HAWK, a species of bird unclean by the Levitical law, Lev 11:16, but not the bird known to us by this name. The translators supposed that the common night-jar (Caprimulgus) was the bird alluded to by the Hebrew tachmas, but probably the screech-owl (Strix flammea), which lodges in the large buildings or ruins of Egypt and Syria, and sometimes even in the dwelling-houses, is intended. See Owl. The Night-jar (Caprimulgus).
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