WHIP- POOR- WILL. 



119 



flower Clips, is sometimes mistaken for a Humming- 

 bird, but close observation will show the difference in 

 feet and bill. 



^A^hip-poo^-will: Antrostomiis vocifcnis. 



Length 9^/2 inches. 



Mottled all over with black, brown and white; a conspicu- 

 ous zvhite hand across the upper breast. 



Three outer tail-feathers white, shown distinctly in flight. 



Female has buff instead of white band and patches. 



Resident from April 20 to October: winters from Florida 

 southward. 



Whip-poor-wills live in dense, wild woods, conse- 

 quently are not heard near the city, but at Takoma 

 Park and farther out they are not uncommon. As they 

 fly only at night they are seldom seen, but in passing 

 through a bit of thick w^oods in daytime you may 

 sometimes start one up, when he will fly low for a 

 short distance and settle lengthwise on a limb or log. 

 His flight is so noiseless that it seems weird in the 

 deeply shaded woods. He feeds entirely on in- 

 sects, chiefly moths, and can engulf the largest 

 in his great mouth, aided by the long stiff bristles 

 which surround it. No nest is built, the two speckled 

 eggs being laid on the bare ground, or on dry leaves. 



If near the Whip-poor-will when he is singing, you 

 may hear the peculiar double cJiiick he gives between 

 calls, and can imagine that he says to himself, " I 

 won't," after each threat to whip poor Will. One 

 little bov, whose summer home is near woods where 

 he always hears the Whip-poor-will at twilight, calls 

 him the bedtime bird, and thinks he says " go to 

 sleep, go to sleep." 



