96 THE WHIP-POOR-WILL. 



while to those long acquainted with them, the 

 sound often serves as a lullaby to assist repose. 

 These notes seem pretty plainly to articulate the 

 words which have been generally applied to 

 them, whip-poor-will, the first and last syllable 

 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 altercations become much more rapid and 

 incessant, 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-piles, or settling 

 on the roof. Towards midnight, they generally 

 become silent, unless in clear moonlight, when 

 they are heard with little intermissioti till morn- 

 ing. During the day, they sit in the most re- 

 tired, solitary, and deep-shaded parts of the 

 woods, generally on high grouua, where they re- 

 pose in silence. When disturbed, they rise 

 within a few feet, sail low and slowly through 

 the woods, for thirty or forty yards, and gene- 

 rally settle on a low branch, or on the ground. 

 Their sight appears deficient during the day, 



