214 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



is also white. The lower parts are cream-buff 

 wdth irregular markings of brow^n. The bill, flat 

 and very wide at the base, is surrounded by 

 stiff, bristlelike feathers like the feelers of a cat. 

 Perhaps they fulfill the same purpose! As this 

 bird is rarely seen in daylight, its appearance 

 is little know^n. 



Whippoorwills, as a rule, build no nests, 

 but lay the two dark eggs spotted with creamy 

 w^hite in a slight hollow on the ground, on a 

 bare rock, log or stump. They range in sum- 

 mer from Virginia to New Brunswick and winter 

 from Florida to Central America. They arrive 

 in late April or early May. Little is known 

 regarding their migrations, as they journey 

 by night. Like Nighthawks, Whippoorwills 

 are excellent friends of man, since their food 

 consists wholly of insects. They destroy count- 

 less numbers of these pests, thereby adding 

 greatly to the return from orchard, field and 

 garden. 



Starling. This is the only American repre- 

 sentative of an Old World family that numbers 

 something like two hundred species. More than 

 twenty years ago about thirty pairs of Star- 

 lings were imported from England and set free 

 in Central Park, New York City. They have 

 found the climate and food conditions so satis- 

 factory that they have increased greatly in 

 number, and now are very numerous in all 

 boroughs of Greater New York. They are grad- 

 ually increasing their range and are now found 

 more than a hundred miles away. 



Starlings are gregarious except during the 



