(_Antrostomus vociferus_) Goatsucker family
(Illustration facing p. 139)
_Length_--9 to 10 inches. About the size of the robin.
Apparently much larger, because of its long wings and wide
wing-spread.
_Male_--A long-winged bird, mottled all over with reddish
brown, grayish black, and dusky white; numerous bristles
fringing the large mouth. A narrow white band across the upper
breast. Tail quills on the end and under side white.
_Female_--Similar to male, except that the tail is dusky in
color where that of the male is white. Band on breast buff
instead of white.
_Range_--United States, to the plains. Not common near the sea.
_Migrations_--Late April to middle of September. Summer resident.
The whippoorwill, because of its nocturnal habits and plaintive note,
is invested with a reputation for occult power which inspires a
chilling awe among superstitious people, and leads them insanely to
attribute to it an evil influence; but it is a harmless, useful night
prowler, flying low and catching enormous numbers of hurtful insects,
always the winged varieties, in its peculiar fly-trap mouth.
It loves the rocky, solitary woods, where it sleeps all day; but it is
seldom seen, even after painstaking search, because of its dull,
mottled markings conforming so nearly to rocks and dry leaves, and
because of its unusual habit of stretching itself lengthwise on a tree
branch or ledge, where it is easily confounded with a patch of lichen,
and thus overlooked. If by accident one happens upon a sleeping bird,
it suddenly rouses and flies away, making no more sound than a passing
butterfly--a curious and uncanny silence that is quite remarkable.
When the sun goes down and as the gloaming deepens, the bird's
activity increases, and it begins its nightly duties, emitting from
time to time, like a sentry on his post or a watchman of the night,
the doleful call which has given the bird its common name. It
"Mourns unseen, and ceaseless sings
Ever a note of wail and woe,"
that our Dutch ancestors interpreted as "_Quote-kerr-kee_" and so
called it. They had a tradition that no frost ever appeared after the
bird had been heard calling in the spring, and that it wisely left for
warmer skies before frost came in the autumn. Prudent bird, never
caught napping!
It is erratic in its choice of habitations, even when rock and
solitude seem suited to its taste. Very rarely is this odd bird found
close to the seashore, and in the Hudson River valley it keeps a half
mile or more back from the river.
The eggs, generally two in number, are creamy white, dashed with dark
and olive spots, and laid on the ground on dry leaves, or in a little
hollow in rock or stump--never in a nest built with loving care. But
in extenuation of such carelessness it may be said that, if disturbed
or threatened, the mother shows no lack of maternal instinct, and
removes her young, carrying them in her beak as a cat conveys her
kittens to secure shelter.
[Illustration: HORNED LARK (_One-half natural size_)]
[Illustration: WHIP-POOR-WILL]