eggs are deposited on the ground, or on the leaves, not the slightest appearance 

 of a nest being visible. These are usually two in number, in shape much re- 

 sembling those of the Nighthawk, but having the ground color much darker 

 and more thickly marbled with dark olive. The precise period of incubation 

 I am unable to sav- 

 in traversing the woods one day in the early part of June, along the brow 

 of a rocky declivity, a Whippoorwill rose from my feet, and fluttered along some- 

 times prostrating herself, and beating the ground with her wings, as if just 

 expiring. Aware of her purpose, I stood still and began to examine the space 

 immediately around me for the eggs or young, one or other of which I was 

 certain must be near. After a long search, to my mortification I could find 

 neither; and was just going to abandon the spot, when I perceived somewhat 

 like a slight moldiness among the withered leaves, and on stooping down, dis- 

 covered it to be a young Whippoorwill, seemingly asleep, as its eyelids were 

 nearly closed; or perhaps this might only be to protect its tender eyes from the 

 glare of day. I sat down by it on the leaves, and drew it as it then appeared. 

 It was probably not a week old. All the while I thus engaged, it neither moved 

 its body nor opened its eyes more than half ; and I left it as I found it. After I 

 had walked about a quarter of a mile from the spot, recollecting that I had left 

 a pencil behind, I returned and found my pencil, but the young bird was gone. 

 Early in June, as soon as the young appear, the notes of the male usually 

 cease, or are heard but rarely. Toward the latter part of summer, a short time 

 before these birds leave us, they are again occasionally heard ; but their call is 

 then not so loud, much less emphatic, and more interrupted than in spring. 

 Early in September they move off toward the South. 



The favorite places of resort for these birds are on high, dry situations; 

 in low, marshy tracts of country they are seldom heard. It is probably on this 

 account that they are scarce on the seacoast and its immediate neighborhood ; 

 while toward the mountains they are very numerous. The Whippoorwill is never 

 seen during the day, unless in circumstances such as have been described. Their 

 food appears to be large moths, grasshoppers, ants, and such insects as frequent 

 the bark of old rotten and decaying timber. They are also expert at darting 

 after winged insects. They will sometimes skim in the dusk, within a few feet 

 of a person, uttering a kind of low chatter as they pass. In their migrations 

 north, and on their return, they probably stop a day or two at some of their 

 former stages. It is highly probable that they migrate during the evening or 

 night. 



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