148 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



beginuing of dusk, and throughout the early parr of tlie night, somethnes for 

 minutes at a time, without any perceptible intermission, and one ean then easily 

 decoy these birds Ijy imitating this call. 



They are said to sing also occasionally during the day, bj.it 1 never hetird 

 <mv. at sucli a time, even during cloudy weather. As the breeding season 

 advances they become more and more silent, but they sometimes sing as late 

 as Se])tember, never with the vim and persistencv, however, as on their first 

 arrival, wlien frequently half a dozen or more of these birds may be heard at 

 the same time, forming a perfect chorus, their notes blending so completelv 

 into eacli other that tlicv sound like a continuous " \vhipper-wliip})er-whij)])er," 

 the last syllalile being entirely lost in the medlev of noise produced; still such 

 voL'-al concerts are not especially mipleasant to the ear, and rather lull the 

 listener into a sound sleep. 



About (hisk the Whi[)-poor-will emerges from its liiding place in some 

 neighboring thicket and goes hawking for its evening Jiieal. A considerable 

 portion of its food is picked up from the ground, especialh' on well-traveled 

 roads, on which it frequently indulges in a dust bath to rid its l)od\- of vermin. 

 It will visit some favorite spots regularly, and slightl}- samU- roads are preferi'ed 

 \n licavicr soil. Its luovementson the ground are rather awkwai'd, its feet Ix'ing 

 weak and sliort: l)ut few of our birds are iiioi'e graceful ku tlu- wing tlian the 

 A\'hip-poor-\vill. 1 have seen one touch the back of its wings together as it 

 swept by me, arrest its noiseless flight in.stanth , <lrop to tlie ground almost 

 ])erpendicularly, i)ick up some insect, and dash awav as suddenlv as it halted. 

 At sucli times it occasionally utters a low, pmring av grunting noise like 

 "diiclv-diick," and another sounding lik(^ " zuc-see, zue-see," Avhich can not l)e 

 heard unless one is close ]>y. 



While t)U a eollecting trip iu Herkimer ('i>unt\. New York, with 1 >r. 

 William !>. Ivalpli, iu June, IX!),-), I witnessed a most aimising performance, 

 which one ina\' see perliaps (ince in a lifetime. 1 happened to be in a little out- 

 building, some 20 teet in the rear of the house at which we were stopping, early 

 on the e^•ening of the 24th, about half an hour after sundown, when I heai-d a 

 ])eculiar, low, clucking noise outside, which was directlv followed by the familiar 

 call of "whip-poor-will." A pair of these birds j)aid us regular visits from the 

 neighboring forest, often perching on the roof of the house, on the garden fence, 

 on the limbs of a crab-a])ple tree nearby, or occasionally alighting on the sandy 

 road passing in front of the house, where they would allow themselves to be 

 closely approached before taking wing, and treated us to a nightlv concert. 

 Directly alongside of the small outbuilding previouslv referred to, a barrel of 

 sand and lime had been spilled, and from the numerous tracks of these birds, 

 made 1)\- them nightly afterwards, it was evident that this spot was visited 

 regularly, and ^\•as the trysting place of at least one pair. Looking through 

 a small aperture, 1 saw one of the birds waddling altout in a verv excited 

 manner ovei- the sand-covered space, which was perha])S 2 bv 3 feet square, 

 and it was so much interested in its own performance tliat it diil not notice me. 



