160 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



believe that this note is much more apt to be sounded when the 

 bird has been flushed from the nest. One observation may be worthy 

 of note, namely, that I have heard the chuck-will's-widow singing 

 as late as September 12 in Edgefield County, S. C. Wlien it comes 

 to interpreting the quality of a bird's song, it is impossible to get 

 away from a personal construction, which, of course, is invalid 

 in a scientific observation, but it seemed to me that on this occa- 

 sion the song was very definitely less vehement and forceful, cer- 

 tainly less frequently reiterated than is the case in spring; in fact, 

 the whole thing seemed to have a querulous and uncertain character, 

 somewhat as if he were wondering why he should be singing at this 

 particular time of year. I endeavored to collect the bird, but the 

 rapidly gathering darkness made it impossible for me to secure 

 it, although I was very close to it several times and saw it take 

 flight. Unfortunately, it chose to fly toward the darkening east 

 rather than the west where there was still an afterglow." 



In commenting generally upon the continuity of the chuck's calls 

 during the early part of the season, Herbert L. Stoddard, of Thomas- 

 ville, Ga., has sent me the following notes : 



"Spent the entire night of April 14, 1927, on the alert in the 

 observatory at the quail pens on lookout for an owl which has been 

 killing quail ... a brilliant moonlight night. Chuck-will's-widows 

 called all nighty no 5-minute period between 9 p. m. and 5 a. m. 

 elapsing without one to eight or ten calling. They have many 

 guttural notes of different inflection, as well as the beautiful call 

 note, a guttural, low-toned waugh given in questioning tones being 

 common. These notes are most frequently uttered when a pair of 

 the birds are together." 



Fall. — The latest record in fall for the chuck-will's-widow in lower 

 South Carolina is September 28 (Wayne, 1910). The great majority 

 of the birds have left some time before this date. Indeed, Dr. 

 Murphey's record mentioned above was a late one and impressed him 

 markedly, as his account shows. 



The earliest arrival record for the whippoorwill for the same 

 locality is September 15, 1928 (Edward S. Dingle, MS.). The latest 

 whippoorwill record is for April 1, 1911 (Wayne, 1910). Thus, in 

 some exceptional years there may be the slightest overlapping of 

 the arrival and departure of the chuck and the whippoorwill, but 

 in the main the one has gone when the other appears, and there 

 is usually some little interval between the sojourns of the two. 



Referring to the fall migration in El Salvador, Dickey and van 

 Rossem (1938) say: "Chuck-will's-widows were seen as late as 

 October 29 at Rio Goascoran, where they were more common than in 

 any other locality. * * * Most were found well up in trees, once 



