268 



Cmtfttrj? at Natural 



j perched, it usually sits on a bare twig, with 



j its head lower than its tail, and in this atti- 



' tude, utters its jarring. It does not perch 



like other birds, sitting across the branch, 



but lengthwise, and its hinder toe is capable 



I of being turned forward as well as backward. 



It is solitary in its habits, and is generally 



I seen alone. 



The colours of this bird, though plain, 



have a beautiful effect from the elegance of 



I their disposition, the plumage being beauti- 



1 fully freckled, barred, and spotted with 



j browns, black, grey, and ferruginous, vari- 



, ously arranged and diversified. The bill is 



i small, flat, and hooked at the tip; the eyes 



1 are large, full, and black ; the legs are short, 



j rough, and scaly, and feathered below the 



! knee : the toes are connected by a membrane 



I as far as the first joint ; the middle one is 



! considerably longer than the rest, and the 



claw is serrated on one side. The use of this 



peculiar organ is not clearly ascertained ; 



I by some it is affirmed that the bird employs 



it to clear away the fragments of insects that 



may have clogged up the fringe of bristles ; 



I by others, that it strikes its prey with its 



i foot, and that this long serrated claw enables 



i it to hold the insect more securely ; and by 



I others again, that it uses it to clean its plu- 



j mage. The male is distinguished from the 



I female by an oval white spot, near the end 



of the first three quill-feathers. These birds 



i frequent moors and wild heathy tracts 



! abounding in fern ; they make no nest, but 



the female deposits her eggs, which are of a 



dull-white colour, on the ground. Mont- 



1 belliard, who wrote this bird's history for 



i Buffon, states, that it no sooner perceives its 



! retreat to be discovered by an enemy, than 



'. it carefully rolls its eggs to a more secure 



| situation. 



There are other species bearing the same 

 general appellation ; one of which is known 

 in America as Whip-poor- Will ; another as 

 i C/mck-Will's-Widow, a third as the Xight- 

 Jiawk, and a fourth as the Rain-bird. There 

 j are also the Banded Goatsucker, and Crested 

 j Goatsucker, natives of New Holland ; be- 

 sides several inhabiting various parts of 

 I ludia, Africa, &c. These are placed in dif- 

 ferent genera : for descriptions of figures of 

 which we refer our readers to the works of 

 Mr. Gould, and of Messrs. Gray and Mitchell. 

 | The two first-mentioned we shall here de- 

 j scribe, from Wilson. 



WHIP-POOE-WILL. (Caprimulgus \_An- 

 trostomus~\ vociferus.) The notes of this soli- 

 tary and celebrated bird, when first heard in 

 the spring, at evening twilight or morning's 

 dawn, seem like the voice of an old friend, 

 and are listened to by almost all with great 

 interest. At first they issue from some re- 

 tired part of the woods, the glen, or mountain ; 

 in a few evenings, perhaps, we hear them from 

 the adjoining coppice, the garden fence, the 

 road before the door, and even from the roof 

 of the dwelling-house, long after the family 

 have retired to rest. He soon becomes a re- 

 gular acquaintance. Every morning his 

 shrill and rapid repetitions are heard from 

 the adjoining woods ; and when two or more 

 are calling out at the same time, as is often 



the case in the pairing season, and at no 

 great distance from each other, the noise, 

 mingling with the echoes from the mountains, 

 is really surprising. Their notes seem pretty 

 plainly to articulate the words which have 

 been generally applied to them, Wliip-poor- 



WHIP- POOR-WILL. 



(OA.PRIMUr.,OU3 VOOIFEUUfO 



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 alter- 

 cations become much more rapid and inces- 

 sant, 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 precipitoiis 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 dis- 

 turbed, 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 ap- 

 pears deficient during the day, as, like owls, 

 they seem to want that vivacity for which 

 they are distinguished in the morning and 

 evening twilight. They are rarely shot at 

 or molested ; and from being thus tran- 

 siently seen in the obscurity of dusk, or in 

 the deep umbrage 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 resemble. 

 The female begins to lay about the second 

 week in May, selecting for this purpose the 

 most unfrequented part of the wood, often 

 where some brush, old logs, heaps of leaves, 

 &c. had been lying, and always on a dry 

 situation. The eggs are deposited on the 

 ground, or on the leaves, not the slightest 

 appearance of a nest being visible. These 

 are usually two in number, in shape much 

 resembling those of the Night-hawk, but 

 having the ground colour much darker, and 

 more thickly marbled with dark olive. 



