BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



eggs upon the ground among the ferns or the 

 dead leaves in cool and shady retreats. The 

 disappearing of the woodlands is making it a 

 very rare bird in many places. One wonders if 

 still more extensive cultivation will not soon 

 drive it altogether from some localities. 



The Whip-poor-will's cousin, the Night 

 Hawk, is not so retiring, and may be heard 

 anywhere in country or in town when evening 

 draws near. It is specially attracted by 

 streams and rivers. Whether the peculiar 

 sound of its downward glide is made with the 

 wings or with the mouth has long been a matter 

 of conjecture. The huge mouth and tiny beak 

 by which this bird is always known are given 

 it for its work of gathering in the night flying 

 insects of the air. The eggs are deposited on 

 the ground, but it does not hide them so care- 

 fully as the Whip-poor-will, for sometimes they 

 have been found in the pasture fields. 



Why should the Night Hawk and the Whip- 

 poor-will be called Goatsuckers? the children 

 often ask. One boy answered it by explaining 

 that it was because their big mouths suck in the 

 flies that trouble the goats and sheep and cattle 

 in the fields, 



[102] 



