The Bird that Whips Poor Will 



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and often waking us, to our disgust, long before 

 dawn by their " damnable iteration," the patient 

 hens are secretly pursuing the joys and labor of 

 maternity. 



Like all its tribe, except the aberrant group 

 Podargus of New Zealand, our whip-poor- 

 will lays its eggs upon the ground in the 

 woods, making no nest whatever and seeking no 

 particular concealment. It chooses an open, 

 dryish spot, perhaps with the feeling that such 

 places are likely to be overlooked by the ani- 

 mals ever prowling through the thickets in 

 search of eggs or fledglings. Professor New- 

 ton asserts that the British night-jar, or fern- 

 owl, which is closely like its American cousin 

 in habits, returns year after year to the same 

 spot to breed, and many indications suggest that 

 our whip-poor-wills have the same constancy. 



The eggs are always two in number, rather 

 large for the bird and of equal thickness at 

 both ends ; and are cream-colored, prettily spec- 

 kled with lilac and red. As if aware that they 

 may be easily seen, the mother broods very 

 closely during daylight. Watching you with 

 ^ 179 to* 



