68 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 



they are heard. W'liile the domain of tlie Summer Tana- 

 ger comprises tlie iiiils and hiji^her elevations, the Scarlet 

 Tanairer sticks to the rich and varied sylva wliich fol- 

 lows the streams hi<^h up into the valleys and ravines, 

 affordini^ us thereby the opitortnnity to hear hotii species 

 sinp: at tlie same time, 



^lany people have noticed that in Missouri, from Perry 

 County southwestward aloni;" the southern slope of the 

 Ozarks, we have two kinds of Whippoorwill. They have 

 heard, alone or together with the well-known common 

 call, another ditTerent call, but given un<ler similar con- 

 ditions at night after dark and again in the early morn- 

 ing before daybreak. Very few know that the originator 

 of the strange doleful notes is the Chuck-wills-widow, a 

 larger southern relative of the more northern and better 

 known AVhippoorwill, In general habits they resemble 

 each other very much, are never seen in daytime except 

 when accidentally driven from their nests or hiding 

 places in the shady retreats of the forest, preferably on 

 hillsides overgrown with much miderbrush. Their call, 

 which has given rise to its queer name is uttered in rai)id 

 succession for several minutes and often resumed again 

 for hours after short breathing spells. They are loudest 

 and most excited during the mating and nesting time in 

 Mav and June and are occasionallv heard throusj:hout 

 smnmer. Though they are with us from latter part of 

 April to the end of September, very few people, in the I 

 region where they are ])lentiful, get a chance to see one, 1 

 so well do they understand to evade <lct^'<*tion by remain- 

 ing in their lii<ling ))laces among the <lry leaves aiul logs 

 or rocks on the ground until ahnost trodden upon. 



Such is the abundance of bird life in the Ozarks that 

 the trained observer mav witli little effort identifv sixtv 

 to seventy species during the nesting time in any one of 

 its valleys. 



We may yet mention a few other species frequently met 

 with in the soutliern slope of the Ozarks, but not at all, or 



