254 birds of ontario. 



Order MACROCHIKES. Goatsuckers, Swifts, etc. 



Suborder CAPRIMULGI. Goatsuckers, etc. 



Family CAPRIMULGID^. Goatsuckers, etc. 



Genus ANTR0ST0MU8 Gould. 



ANTROSTOMUS YOCIFERUS (Wils.). 



ISO. Whip-poor-will. (417) 



(ieneral color of the u|jj)er parts, dark brownish-gray, streaked and 

 minutely spiinkled with brownish-black ; quills and coverts, dark brown, 

 spotted in bars with light brownish-red ; four middle tail feathers like those 

 of the back, the three lateral wliite in their terminal half ; throat and breast, 

 similar to the back with a transverse band of white on the foreneck ; rest of 

 the lower parts, paler tiian above and mottled. Fenmlc : — Similar, but with 

 the lateral tail feathers reddish-white toward the tip only, and the band across 

 the forehead pale yellowish-brown. Length, 9i ; wing, oi; tail, 4A. 



H.\B. — Ea.stern United States to the Plains, south to Guatemala. 



Eggs, two, deposited in a hollow or a rotten log, or on the ground on a di}' 

 bank among leaA-es. Thej' are elliptical, of moderate polish with a ground color 

 of white or cream, iiandsomely marked witli spots of yellowish -brown ; deep 

 shell marks are about as numerous as tlie surface marks and are of a lilac-gray 

 or lavender tint. 



This well-know II l)ii-(l crosses the soutliern frontier of Ontario 

 about the 10th of May, and should the weather be mild its loud 

 and well-known cry is soon heard at night at many diifeient points 

 throughout the country. It is seldom seen abroad l)y day, except 

 when distuil)ed at its I'csting i)lace in some shady j)art of the woods, 

 wlien it glides off noiselessly like a gi-eat moth. Disliking the glare 

 of the light, it avoids the city, but not unfre(|uently perches on the 

 vooi of a farm-house, startling the inmates with its cry, which they 

 hear with great distinctness. 



This is the only song of the \Vhij)-pooi-will, and it is kepi up 

 during the breeding season, after which it is seldom heard. We see 

 so little of tliese birds that it is difficult to tell exactly at what time 

 they leave us, but it is most likely early in September that they 

 "fold theii- tents like the Arabs, and as silently steal away." 



Tt is reported as a c<jmmon summer resident in Manitoba, and 

 l)r. Hell records its presence at Norway House, to the north ttf which 

 I have not heard of it having been observed. 



Tt is a delicately ff)rmed bird, though strong on the wing. Its 

 legs and feet are very slendei, but they arc not often called into use. 



