NUTTALL'S POORWILL 191 



Mrs. Bailey (1928) says: "Wlien hunting for food the Poor- will 

 skims swiftly and noiselessly close over the ground with irregular 

 turnings and windings and rests between, and when its catch con- 

 tains hard indigestible parts like the wing coverts of beetles, ejects 

 them in the form of pellets, as do the hawks and owls, kingfishers, 

 and others of similar food habits. A road through a forest with its 

 abundant flies and insects is said to be one of its favorite hunting 

 groimds." 



The stomach of one taken by Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) on 

 May 25 in Brewster County, Tex., was crammed with four large 

 June beetles {PhyJIo-phaga sp.) and a large army ant (male 

 Eciton sp.). 



Behavior. — Mrs. Bailey (1928) says that a poorwill, wounded by 

 Mr. Bailey, exhibited a surprising method of defense; he "opened 

 his mouth wide and hissed and blew and flopped about on the 

 ground, always facing the enemy. Blowing like a blow snake and 

 opening and shutting his mouth, he was enough to terrify all minor 

 enemies." 



Referring to the eye-shine, common among the Caprimulgidae, 

 Mrs. Bailey quotes Dr. Bergtold as saying : "While motoring at night 

 through a particularly dark canyon, I noticed far ahead in the 

 illuminated road, two small glowing pink spots which were ex- 

 tinguished when a bird flew from the road on the near approach 

 of the car. The bird alighted again, some distance ahead in the 

 road, when the pink spots reappeared and were identified as the 

 bird's eyes ; it was shot and proved to be a Poor-will." 



Dr. Wetmore (1932) says that poorwills "rest during the day on 

 the ground, though after night, when feeding or calling, may seek 

 higher perches on stones or posts or on low branches. On one occa- 

 sion I saw one by bright moonlight calling from a bush, where it 

 perched crosswise on a small limb, like any ordinary bird, though 

 ordinarily they rest lengthwise of branches, like others of their 

 family." 



Dr. Elliott Coues (1874) says: "Like others of its family, Nut- 

 tail's Whippoorwill is oftener heard than seen. When flushed from 

 its retreat in the daytime, among the shrubbery or tall weeds, it 

 rises hurriedly with wayward flight, dashes a few yards, and re- 

 alights. There is something about it at such times that strongly 

 recalls the Woodcock, and the bird is quite as difficult to shoot on 

 the wing." 



Voice. — The call of the poorwill is generally recorded as a clear 

 pronunciation of its name, but many observers have noted a third 

 syllable, audible at only a short distance, making the complete song 

 sound like poor-will-low^ or poor-wiU-ee, when the bird is near, or 



