THE WHIP-POOR-WILL. 149 



's -winch 



altliouo-li r made some noise trying- to fight off a swarm of mnsquitocs 

 assailed me trom all sides. Its head appeared to lie all moiitli, and its notes 

 were uttered so rapidh' that, close as 1 was to the l)iril, thcN' sonnded like one 

 long-, continnous n)ll. A t'ow seconds after his first effort (it was the male) he 

 was joined liv his mate, and she at onee eommeneed to res[)ond with a peculiar, 

 low, buzzing or grunting note, like " gaw-gaw-gaw," undonbtedlv a note of 

 approval or endearment. Hiis evidently cost her considerable effort; her liead 

 almost touched the ground while uttering- it, her phniiage \\as relaxed, and 

 lier wliole Ixulv seemed to be in a violent treml)h'. 'I^he male in the meantime 

 had sidh^d up to lier and touched her bill with liis, wliicli made her move 

 slightlv to one side, Imt so slowlv that he easily ke})t close alongside of lier. 

 These sidling movements were kept up for a miiuite or more each time; first 

 one would move away, followed by the other, and then it was reversed; both 

 were about equally l)old and coy at the same tinie. Their entire love making- 

 looked exceedinglv human, and the female acted as timid and basliful as many 

 voung- maidens would when receiving- the first declarations of their would-lie 

 lovers, while the lowering of her head might easily be interpreted as being 

 done to hide her blushes. Just al)out the time I thought this courtship Avould 

 reach its climax, a dog ran out of the liouse and caused both to take flight. 

 He always showed an unaccountable antipathy for these birds, and invariably 

 chased them as scion as one would alight near by. I watched for them on 

 several subsecpient evenings, in the same place, l)nt the\' never returned there 

 so earlv, but their fresh tracks on the sand showed tliat the place had been 

 visited later in the night. 



Tn the more southern portions of its range the Whip-|)oor-\\ill nests usualh' 

 al)out the first week in Ma\', occasionall}- only during the last two \veeks in 

 April, and in the more northern parts usually not liefore June 



I\Ir. H. W . Flint, of New Haven, (Jonnecticut, has kindh fm-nislied me with 

 the following notes on this species: "This beautiful liird is a. great favorite of 

 mine, and I have de\'oted considerable time to studying its lial)its. [t shows a 

 strong attachment for certain localities to the neglect ot' others appai-eiUlv 

 ecjuallv suited to its tastes, and I have taken five sets of its eggs within loO feet 

 of a given point, and e\-en wlien the first set was taken the female will oftcMi lay 

 again within a, rod or two of the original site. It nests ratliei- earlx", ]\Ia\' '20 

 to 25 being the a\-erage date of \ny finils. 1 knoM' of no more ludicrous sight 

 in bird life tliau that offei-ed b\- tln^ female when suddenh' surprised with 

 young-. Slu^ Hies m rather Hops ;d)out the intrudei- in a circle, often ali"-ht- 

 ing to tumble about upon the ground among the leaves, spreading the tail and 

 opening the numth, at the same time emitting a sound something like tlie cr\' or 

 whine of a very young puppy, and also other guttural, uncouth sounds, whollv 

 indescribable, the \'oung themselves, in their scanty dress of dark \'ellow fuzz, 

 apparentl\- all mouth, adding to the general effect. I once, and once oid\-, saw 

 a female (ti:e male is ne\ci- present at the nest) carr-s' a \'oung bin! al»out a rod, 

 l)ut can not s,i\ she used her l)ill, ;ind don't think she did, but 1 am almost 



