254 birds of ontario. 



Order MACROCHIEES. Goatsuckers, Swifts, etc. 



Suborder CAPRI MULGI. Goatsuckers, etc. 



Family CAPRIMULGID^. aoATsucKBRS, etc. 



Genus ANTROSTOMUS Gould. 



ANTR08T0MUS VOCIFERUS (Wils.). 



\^0. Whip-poor-will. (417) 



(Teneral color of the upper parts, dark brownish-gray, streaked and 

 minutely sprinkled with bi-ownish-black ; quills anil coverts, dark brown, 

 spotted in bars with light brownish-red ; four middle tail feathers like those 

 of the l)ack, the three lateiul white in their terminal half ; thi'oat and breast, 

 similar to the back with a ti'ansverse band of white on the foreneck ; rest of 

 the lower parts, paler than above and mottled. Female : — Similar, but with 

 the lateral tail feathers i-eddish-white toward the tip only, and the band across 

 the forehead pale yellowish-brown. Length, 9| ; wing, 5^; tail, 4^. 



Hab. — Eastern United States to the Plains, south to Guatemala. 



Eggs, two, deposited in a hollow or a rotten log, or on the ground on a dry 

 bank among leaves. They are elliptical, of moderate polish with a ground color 

 of white or cream, luindsomely marked with spots of yellowish -brown ; deep 

 shell marks are about as numerous as the surface marks and are of a lilac -gray 

 or lavender tint. 



This well-kiiowii bird crosses the soutliern fi'ontier of Ontario 

 about tlie 10th of May, and should the weather be mild its loud 

 and well-known cry is soon heard at night at many different points 

 throughout the country. It is seldom seen abroad by day, except 

 when disturbed at its resting place in some shady part of the woods, 

 when it glides off noiselessly like a great moth. Disliking the glare 

 of the light, it avoids the city, but not unfrequently perches on the 

 roof of a farm-house, startling the inmates with its cry, which they 

 hear with great distinctness. 



This is the only song of the Whip-poor-will, and it is kept up 

 during the Ijreeding season, after which it is seldom heard. We see 

 so little of these birds that it is difficult to tell exactl}^ at what time 

 they leave us, but it is most likely early in September that they 

 "fold their tents like the Arabs, and as silently steal away." 



It is reported as a common summer resident in Manitoba, and 

 Dr. Bell records its presence at Norway House, to the north of which 

 I have not heard of it having been observed. 



It is a delicately formed bird, though strong on the wing. Its 

 legs and feet are very slendei', but they are not often called into use, 



