120 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



The peculiar song of this bird is heard at early eve, and 

 until late into the night, during the mating and part of the 

 breeding seasons. It is not uttered in the depths of the wil- 

 derness alone ; but the bird, perching on the well-sweep, on 

 the eaves of a low shed, or even on the door-sill of the farm- 

 er's house, pours out its melancholy strain. The descrip- 

 tion, by Alexander Wilson, of the habits of this bird, is so 

 accurate and comprehensive, that I will not presume to 

 attempt another. He says: 



" The notes seem pretty plainly to articulate the words which 

 have been generally applied to them, whip-poor-will, the first and 

 last syllables being uttered with great emphasis, and the whole in 

 about a second to each repetition ; but, when two or more males 

 meet, their whip-poor-will altercations become much more rapid 

 and incessant, as if each were straining to overpower or silence the 

 other. When near, you often hear an introductory cluck between 

 the notes. At these times, as well as at almost all others, they fly 

 low, not more than a few feet from the surface, skimming about the 

 house and before the door, alighting on the wood-pile, or settling on 

 the roof. Towards midnight, they generally become silent, unless 

 in clear moonlight, when they are heard, with little intermission, 

 till morning. If there be a creek near, with high, precipitous, 

 bushy banks, they are sure to be found in such situations. During 

 the day, they sit in the most retired, solitary, and deep-shaded parts 

 of the woods, generally on high ground, where they repose in 

 silence. When disturbed, they rise within a few feet, sail low and 

 slowly through the woods for thirty or forty yards, and generally 

 settle on a low branch or on the ground. Their sight appears 

 deficient during the day, as, like owls, they seem then to want that 

 vivacity for which they are distinguished in the morning and even- 

 ing twilight. They are rarely shot at or molested ; and, from being 

 thus transiently seen in the obscurity of dusk, or in the deep um- 

 brage of the woods, no wonder their particular markings of plumage 

 should be so little known, or that they should be confounded with 

 the Night-hawk, whom, in general appearance, they so much re- 

 semble. The female begins to lay about the second week in May, 

 selecting, for this purpose, the most unfrequented part of the wood, 



