NIGHT-HAWKS AND WHIP-POOR-WILLS 



617 



another of its sub-species from Florida to Alaska. In 

 winter the night-hawk retires to South America, travel- 

 ing in scattered flocks. Sometimes they just skim the 

 ground or large bodies of water and at a distance look 

 remarkably like black terns. Again they fly high over 

 head. In climbing the Andes of Colombia in October 

 at an altitude of 12,000 feet, I saw flocks of night-hawks 

 flying several thousand feet higher, crossing snow-capped 

 ridges and making for the plains beyond. The birds 

 that nest in Alaska have a long way to travel, for even 

 should they stop in the Bahamas, it would mean 6,000 

 miles each way, while, if they continued to central 

 Argentina, as do many, it would mean an annual pil- 

 grimage covering at least 18,000 miles. 



Night-hawks are usually birds of the pasture or 

 prairie country and are seldom found in heavily wooded 

 districts unless it be in clearings. They spend the day 

 perched lengthwise on a rock or post or branch of a 

 tree and will frequently permit of a close approach. At 

 dusk they begin hawking about after insects and con- 

 sume great quantities of gnats, mosquitoes and other 

 flying insects. Five hundred mosquitoes were found in 

 the stomach of one night-hawk, and 1,800 winged ants 

 in another. Occasionally they pursue insects on bare 

 ground and are sometimes seen at dusk along country 

 roads, flitting from spot to spot capturing beetles and 



Photograph by A. D. DuBoii 



RELATED TO THE OWLS 



A whip-poor-will brooding its young among the oak leaves on the forest 

 floor. Modern systematists remove the owls from the raptorial birds and 

 put them near the goat suckers. Here there is a suggestive resemblance. 



grasshoppers. Sixty grasshoppers were found in the 

 stomach of one bird. They ordinarily feed only at dusk 

 or at night, but during the nesting season or on their 

 migrations, they are sometimes seen darting about high 

 over head even on bright days. 



In former years, the night-hawk was shot for sport 

 in large numbers throughout the South where it was 



known as the "bull-bat." Its erratic flight made it a 

 difficult mark for the gunners and it was considered 

 legitimate sport to go out at dusk and shoot them as 

 they darted back and forth over the pastures after in- 

 sects. Sometimes they were used as food. For a time 

 they became extremely scarce and in some localities were 

 threatened with extinction but, now that their value has 

 come to be realized, and they are rigidly protected by 

 both State and Federal laws, the custom of shooting 



BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE 



None of the night-hawks or whip-poor-wills build nests. They lay their 

 eggs on the ground without even a depression to keep them from rolling. 

 One of this whip-poor-will's eggs has hatched and the young is seen to be 

 covered with long brownish down. 



them has gone out of vogue and they are increasing in 

 number. 



Of recent years, the night-hawks have been attracted 

 to large cities where the flat-topped buildings with their 

 gravel roofs are not very different from the stony fields 

 where the birds ordinarily nest. They have little com- 

 petition for the hosts of flying things that are attracted 

 by the lights and are steadily increasing. They are often 

 seen perched on chimneys or gables during the day and 

 darting over head at dusk uttering their sharp call of 

 "peerd peerd." 



During the breeding season they can often be seen 

 to dive toward the earth from a considerable height, 

 catching themselves with an upward turn just before 

 they strike the house tops, the rush of the air through 

 their wings causing a roaring sound like that produced 

 by blowing over the bunghole of a barrel. 



The night-hawk and the whip-poor-will are quite 

 similar in appearance, both being beautifully mottled 

 with gray and brown, somewhat lighter below with 

 conspicuous white patches on the throats and white in 

 the tails. The night-hawk is easily distinguished by a 

 white bar across the wing which is very conspicuous dur- 

 ing flight. The two birds, however, are not ordinarily 



