WHIP-POOR-WILL 185 



eggs are white or bluish white, sometimes marked 

 around the larger end, at others uniformly dotted 

 with light brown spots. The bird itself can al- 

 ways be distinguished by its reddish brown color 

 and its reddish bill, for its cousin the Chippy, 

 whom it resembles in general, has a clear gray 

 breast and a black bill. 



Whip-poor-will : Antrostomus vociferus. 

 (See Fig. 98, p. 188.) 



Male, wood-brown, lighter below; patch on throat and outer 

 tail feathers white. Female, similar, but throat buffy in- 

 stead of white, and no white on tail. Length, 9| inches. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Eastern North America, north 

 to New Brunswick and Manitoba ; winters from Florida and 

 the lower Mississippi valley southward. 



The evening note of the Whip-poor-will is well 

 known, but in the daytime the bird is seldom 

 seen. When surprised on a branch it looks like 

 a short stick of wood, for it sits low and horizon- 

 tally ; and the white line of its throat absolutely 

 destroys the head form (see Fig. 98, p. 188), so 

 that one has to puzzle to make out that it is a 

 head, though knowing that it is attached to the 

 body of a bird. If one is familiar with the twi- 

 light hunting-grounds of the Whip-poor-will, many 

 interesting things may be observed. Major Ben- 

 dire gives a delightful account of what he has seen 

 at such times. He says that, when picking up its 

 food from the roads which it frequents for dust- 



