.^.88 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



wing, and returned in a few minutes to 

 start all over again. 



After cutting dowiii some saplings we 

 finally succeeded in taking the little fel- 

 low's first photograph, and how nicely 

 and patiently he posed, for we about an 

 hour obtaining it. 



We are looking forward to the return 

 of the water thrushes this spring, when 

 we shall surely observe and study their in- 

 teresting habits even more closely than we 

 did last year. We wonder if this bird will 

 be among them, or if he will make his 

 home near some other little stream. 



The Whippoorwill. 



BY KDWIX L. JACK, PORTLAND, M.MXK. 



That the whippoorwill is of nocturnal 

 habits and is provided with a wonderful 

 plumage of protective coloring and has 

 a love for the more solitary woodlands, 

 are the three main reasons whv so few 



brooding, so closely does the whij^poor- 

 will clin.g- to her eggs, and so much does 

 she resemble a dead snag on the ground, 

 that a person may frequently approach 

 within four or five feet before discover- 

 ing her. When the bird does leave her 

 eggs it is done so quickly and quietly as 

 to be almost uncanny. Like a shadow 

 and without a sound she rises into the 

 air on a pair of swallow-like wings and 

 vanishes among the foliage. 



The whippoorwill makes no attempt at 

 nest building, a slight depression on the 

 ground, on an old log or rock, serving 

 as a receptacle for the two creamy eggs 

 which are thickly speckled with brown, 

 relying on her own protective col ring- 

 to shield them from danger. 



A peculiarity of the whippoorwill in 

 rearing her young is that if the nest is 

 discovered the parent birds will move the 

 young to another location even when only 

 a few davs old. The vouuig birds here 



NEST AND EGGS OF WHIPPOORWILL 



people are acquainted with the birds. 



Throughout the day they remain hid- 

 den in the seclusion of the deep woods, 

 but as the sun sinks toward the horizon, 

 when the hermit thrush, that incompar- 

 able songster of the woodlands, mounts 

 his choir loft and chants his vesper song, 

 when the day is slowly fading into the 

 mystery and tranquillity of an evening 

 late in June, then the whippoorwill begins 

 his activities. Flying on swift wings, he 

 goes sailing over the lowlands in his 

 search for insects which he catches in 

 his gaping mouth, and as he rests sends 

 forth his weird cry, "whip-poor-will, 

 whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will" 



If confronted in the daytime while 



illustrated, when only five davs old, were 

 found at least eight feet from the original 

 location of their nest. 



Young whippoorwills are a light tan 

 color and remain in the downy stage for 

 some time before the pin feathers develop. 

 They have queer little feet which appear 

 to be w^eak, for these birds never light 

 on a small limb to which they would be 

 oblig'ed to cling. A wide limb or rock, 

 or frequently the ground itself, serves 

 as a resting place. 



The whippoorwill is often mistaken 

 for the nighthawk which it resembles in 

 many ways, but may be distinguished by 

 the three outside tail feathers which are 

 white- 



