166 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



the dense coverts of the swamp or woods during the migration season, 

 and also during the nesting season, if one is in its summer haunts, the 

 Whippoorwill may frequently be started from its perch on the ground or 

 from some old root or mossy log, but he seldom rises until one is within 

 a few feet of the bird, when he springs suddenly into the air, but with 

 absolute silence, his soft owllike plumage making his flight as noiseless 

 as a Screech owl's. His course also is low and wavering like an owl's so 

 that he is oft mistaken for one of that family. As Chapman remarks, 

 the silence with which he rises in front of one's face and flies away is fully 

 as startling as the overwhelming whirr of a grouse's wings. The food of 

 the Whippoorwill consists entirely of night-flying insects, principally moths 

 and beetles. I have taken 36 full-grown moths from the stomach of a 

 single Whippoorwill which was killed early in the evening, indicating that 

 within an hour and a half he had killed and devoured these full-grown 

 moths, each one of which contained hundreds of eggs. Thus it is evident 

 that this bird is of untold value to the forester. The call of the Whip- 

 poorwill is introduced by a low cluck or chuck, which is inaudible unless 

 the listener is near the bird, but the sharp vigorous whip' -poor-will' , whip'- 

 poor-will' which is rapidly reiterated may be heard for the distance of half 

 a mile. This call is heard mostly during two hours after sunset and the 

 hour before sunrise. The nest of the Whippoorwill, or rather its eggs 

 for it makes no nest, is found beneath the dense, low-hanging foliage of 

 the undergrowth in the forest. The eggs are 2 in number, elliptical-ovoid 

 in shape and average 1.16 by .84 inches in dimensions, dull white in color 

 with spots and blotches of brown, drab and lavender. 



