360 



Trees, Stars, and Birds 



U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

 FIG. 221. Chuck-will's- widow. . A Southern relative of the whippoorwill. 



The nighthawk does not, as some have supposed, 

 make the call whip-poor-will. This note, with the middle 

 syllable slighted and the first and last strongly accented, 

 is uttered only by the whippoorwill. It may be heard, 

 at different hours of the night, coming from woods 

 sometimes half a mile away. 



The chuck-will' s-widow is a member of this family 

 found very abundantly in many of the Southern states. 

 It is larger than the whippoorwill and has a wing ex- 

 panse of 2 feet. Its mouth and gullet open so wide 

 that it can swallow small birds, although it feeds mainly 

 on insects. In the Southwest the poorwill takes the 

 place of the whippoorwill of the East. 



