176 Birds Every Child Should Know 



whole body, for, like his cousin, the nighthawk, 

 and his more distant relatives, the humming- 

 bird and the swift, his feet are too small and 

 weak for much perching. You never see him 

 standing erect on a twig mth his toes clasped 

 around it, but always squatting when at rest. 



A narrow white band across his throat makes 

 his depressed head look as if it had been sepa- 

 rated from his body — a queer effect that may 

 remind you of the Cheshire Cat in "Alice in 

 Wonderland." The whip-poor-will's three outer 

 tail feathers have white ends which help to 

 distinguish him from the nighthawk. He has 

 a funny little short beak, but his large mouth 

 stretches from ear to ear, and when he flies 

 low above the fields after sunset, this trap is 

 kept open, like the swift's and the swallow's, 

 to catch any night-flying insects — mosquitoes, 

 June bugs, gnats, katydids and little moths — 

 that cross his path. Long, stiffened bristles 

 at the ends of his mouth prevent the escape 

 of a victim past the gaping trap. On the wing 

 the bird is exceedingly swift and graceful. Some 

 children mistake him for a bat or a night- 

 hawk. 



Relying upon the protective covering of her 

 soft plumage, the mother whip-poor- v/ill builds 

 no nest, but lays a pair of mottled eggs directly 

 on the ground in the dark woods where a carpet 

 of dead leaves and decayed wood makes con- 



