WHIP-POOR- WILL 1 19 



flower cups towards evening is sometimes mistaken 

 for a Htmimingbird, but close observation will show 

 the difference in feet and bill. 



Whip-poor-will: Aiitrostomiis vocifcnts. 



Length g^^ inches. 



Mottled all over with black, brown and white; a conspicu- 

 ous xvhite band across the upper breast. 



Three outer tail-feathers white, shown distinctly in flight. 



Female has buff instead of white band and patches. 



Resident from April 20 to October; winters from Florida 

 southward. 



Whip-poor-wills live in dense, wild woods, conse- 

 quently are not heard near the city, but at Takoma 

 Park and farther out they are not uncommon. As they 

 fly only at night they are seldom seen, but in passing 

 through a bit of thick woods in daytime you may 

 sometimes start one up, when he will fly low for a 

 short distance and settle Icngtlnvisc on a limb or log. 

 His flight is so noiseless that it seems weird in the 

 deeply shaded woods. He feeds entirely on insects, 

 chiefly moths, and can engulf the largest in his great 

 mouth, aided by the long stiff bristles which surround 

 it. No nest is built, the two speckled eggs being- 

 laid on the bare ground, or on dry leaves. 



If near the Whip-poor-will when he is singing, you 

 may hear the peculiar double clutck he gives between 

 calls, and can imagine that he says to himself, " I 

 won't," after each threat to whip poor Will. One 

 little boy, whose summer home is near woods where 

 he always hears the Whip-poor-will at twilight, calls 

 him the bedtime bird, and thinks he says " go to sleep, 

 go to sleep." 



