A POT-HUNTER'S DEFIANCE 67 



they lay. The eggs of the Chuck-Will 's-Widow, 

 like the bird herself, need to be protectively col- 

 ored, for the bird lays but two eggs and cannot 

 afford to run any risks of losing her young. 



Strange birds are these *' goatsuckers" or 

 '^night-jars" as they are popularly called. 

 Their legs are weak, so weak, indeed, that the birds 

 cannot walk, but shuffle along. The small feet 

 cannot support the weight of the body and hence 

 the Night-Hawk, the Whip-Poor- Will and the 

 Chuck-Will 's-Widow, the three principal North 

 American species of this Sub-Order, do not usually 

 perch on a branch like most small birds, but rest 

 lengthwise on a bough or on the ground, the breast, 

 as well as the whole length of the foot, supporting 

 the bird's weight. 



Unusual as are the weak feet and squatting po- 

 sition of these birds, their bills are even stranger. 

 Although the beak of the Chuck- Will 's-Widow is 

 very short, not more than a half -inch in length, 

 the mouth opens with an -^normous gape, two 

 inches from corner to corner. This huge mouth, 

 which is almost a monstrosity among birds, is 

 made still more of a trap by the addition of long, 

 stiff, curving hairs around the upper lip. These 

 form a broad scoop-net to entangle any swift- 



