150 LIFK HISTORIES OP NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



sure the claws and legs only were used, as the young was hugged close to the 

 bodv. I have never known the eggs to be removed, though I have left them in 

 two or three different instances. 



"I found a pair of yomig one morning and went home after niv camera; 

 but u])on my retui'n, several hours later, they were gone and the old bird also, 

 and a careful search failed to disclose their retreat. In this case it would 

 appear that the old bird removed them, as they were certainly too young to 

 travel far themselves. The eggs that I have found (with the exception of one 

 set) resemble each other close!}-, and were all taken in moderately open second- 

 growtli woodland and on ridges somewhat elevated above the immediate 

 suri-oundings. No attempt at a nest has been observed; the eggs were placed 

 in slight depressions and usually on one large leaf, never near a log or rock. 



"The set referred to above as exceptional is C[uite heavil}- marked, and one 

 egg has the spots on one side merged into one large blotch. It was taken July 

 4, 1884, at Deep River, Connecticut, and is the latest date on which T have 

 found eggs, though I believe that two broods are reared." 



The Whip-poor-will, like the other species of the Capyiniuhj'Khc found in 

 the United States, makes no nest, but deposits its eggs usually ou a laver of 

 dry leaves of deciduous trees, sometimes on dr\' pine needles, and occa.sionally 

 on the bare ground, generally under thick bushes which afford plenty of shade, 

 in some secluded and out-of-the-way corner, near the outskirts of forests, or on 

 brush-covered hillsides, river bluffs, etc., which are not readily accessible and 

 not disturlied much. It is naturally a timid and retiring bird, and does not 

 brook repeated intrusion very gracefully. The nesting site selected is always a 

 well-drained and a dry one; light and sandy soils are preferred to heavier ones, 

 and it rarel}', if ever, nests in places that are subject to overflow. 



The mnTil)er of eggs to a set is two; these are deposited on alternate days, 

 and incubation connnences with the first egg laid. I believe the female attends 

 to tliis duty almost exclusively, and she is a most devoted parent, using all the 

 well-known artifices of many ground-building species to entice the intruder 

 away from the vicinity of her treasures. Occasionally she will remove her 

 eggs if the nesting site has been disturbed, and the egg is said to be carried 

 away in iicr ca])acious mouth; but this is not a regular habit bv anv means. 

 The callow young, however, are mcn-e frequent! }' carried to a safe locality if too 

 often disturbed. The eggs of the Whip-poor-Avill are large for the size of the 

 bird, and elliptical oval in shape; the shell is rather frail, close-grained, and 

 somewhat variable in the amount of luster present; some are rather glossy, 

 wliile others show little or no "-loss. 



The ground color of these eggs is usually piire white; occasionally a faint 

 cream tint is perceptible, and the markings consist of blotches, spots, and 

 tracings of different shades of brown, tawny and lighter tints of ecru di-ab, 

 lavender, lilac, and pearl gray. In most specimens the markings are profuse; 

 in some the darker, but in the majority the lighter tints predominate, and an 

 occasional egg is almost unspotted. On the whole, they are not nearly as 



