168 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ground, seemingly trying to lead the intruder away. Wilson (1831) 

 reports that "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, sometimes prostrating herself, and 

 beating the ground with her wings, as if just expiring." On the 

 other hand, H. E. Tuttle (1911) speaks of a bird, brooding young, 

 which was "very fearless, allowing me to touch her back and making 

 it necessary for me to shove her gently off the young when I wanted 

 a glimpse of them." 



Arthur C. Bent, in Ms notes, says that late in May he "flushed 

 a whippoorwill from near a woodland path, where it apparently 

 had been roosting regularly as evidenced by its droppings." A few 

 days later, not 25 yards from the path, he "flushed the whippoorwill 

 from the ground and saw its single egg lying on the flat, bare oak 

 leaves," 



C. H. D. Clarke, writing to Mr. Bent from Ontario, Canada, 

 points out how changes in the topography of a region may affect 

 the local whippoorwills. He says: "The common denominator ex- 

 plaining the local distribution of this species is, I believe, to be 

 found in its feeding and egg-laying habits. The whippoorwill feeds 

 in the open, like the nighthawk, but unlike it, fairly near the ground. 

 Although both birds lay their eggs on the ground, the nighthawk 

 nests in the open, whereas the whippoorwill always nests among 

 trees. Hence, as a breeding bird, it is found in glades and around 

 the edges of woodlots. Many of the woodlots, however, in this 

 vicinity are closely grazed by cattle at the present time, a condition 

 that prevailed less commonly in the semipioneering stage of our 

 country. The whippoorwill does not tolerate this change; it will 

 not breed in the grazed woodlots and, as a consequence, has been 

 reduced in numbers here. It also seems to avoid extensive areas of 

 conifers, possibl}' because of the absence of hardwood litter on which 

 to lay its eggs. The area at Frank's Bay, in which the bird breeds 

 very commonly, is a sand plain that was burned over about 25 

 years ago and has since grown up in many places to dense stands 

 of poplar from 15 to 20 feet high. Here the whippoorwill has 

 plenty of shelter in the dense poplar woods, an abundance of hard- 

 wood litter, and may cruise about over the treetops not far above 

 ground." 



Eggs. — [Author's note: The two eggs of the whippoorwill are 

 between oval and elliptical-oval in shape and become somewhat 

 glossy when incubated. The ground color is usually pure white, 

 but occasionally a faint creamy tint is perceptible. The markings 

 consist of spots or small blotches of "pale Quaker drab" or "pallid 

 Quaker drab," scattered over the eggs more or less irregularly; an 



