Some Big Mouths 



Jenny. "It does you credit, Peter. It does you 

 credit. I wonder if you also noticed Whip-poor- 

 will's whiskers." 



"Whiskers!" cried Peter. "Who ever heard 

 of a bird having whiskers? You can stuff a lot 

 down me, Jenny Wren, but there are some things 

 I cannot swallow, and bird whiskers is one of 

 them." 



"Nobody asked you to swallow them. Nobody 

 wants you to swallow them," snapped Jenny. 

 "I don't know why a bird shouldn't have whiskers 

 just as well as you, Peter Rabbit. Anyway, 

 Whip-poor-will has them and that is all there is 

 to it. It doesn't make any difference whether you 

 believe in them or not, they are there. And I 

 guess Whip-poor-will finds them just as useful as 

 you find yours, and a little more so. I know this 

 much, that if I had to catch all my food in the air 

 I'd want whiskers and lots of them so that the 

 insects would get tangled in them. I suppose 

 that's what Whip-poor-will's are for." 



"I beg your pardon, Jenny Wren," said Peter 

 very humbly. "Of course Whip-poor-will has 

 whiskers if you say so. By the way, do the Whip- 

 poor-wills do any better in the matter of a nest 

 than the Nighthawks ?" 



"Not a bit," replied Jenny Wren. "Mrs. 

 Whip-poor-will lays her eggs right on the ground, 

 [173] 



