did not see a whippoorwill. 

 They were all roosting length- 

 wise upon the logs and stumps 

 back among the bushes. 



These unnatural, unbirdlike 

 habits of the whippoorwill are 

 matched by the appearance of 

 the bird. The first time one 

 sees a whippoorwill he ques- 

 tions whether its shape and 

 color are the result of its noc- 

 turnal life or whether it took 

 to the night to hide its un- 

 beautiful self from the gaze of 

 the day. 



It has ridiculously short 

 legs, a mere point of a bill, 

 and a bristled, head-dividing 

 gap tUat would shame a frog. 

 Looked at in the daylight, its 

 color, too, is a meaningless 



