CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 2. PASSERES. 



83 



THE CHnCK-WILL S-WIDOW. 



The Chuck-will's-widow, A. CaroUnensis, is about twelve inches long; general form robust 

 entire body dark brown, minutely dotted with reddish-fulvous, and every feather having longitu- 

 dinal stripes of black. Its eggs, usually two in number, are laid on the ground, generally in the 

 woods. It is common in the Southern and Southwestern States, and is the largest of the genus 

 in America. Flying low, and skimming a few feet above the surface of the ground, it settles on 

 logs and fences, from which it pursues the flying moths and insects on which it feeds ; sometimes 

 sailing nearer the earth, it alights to pick up a beetle, or flutters round the trunk of a tree in 

 search of any insect that may be crawling on the bark. Like the species above described, it 

 commences its singular serenade of Chuck- WilFs- Widoiv in the evening, soon after sunset, continu- 

 ing the cry, with short interruptions, for several hours, and renewing it toward morning till the 

 opening dawn. The tones are slower, louder, and more full than those of the whippoorwill, and 

 may be heard on a still evening for half a mile. The species is particularly numerous in the vast 

 forests of the Mississippi, where, throughout the evening, its echoing notes are heard in the soli- 

 tary glens, and from the surrounding and silent hills, becoming almost incessant during tlie 

 shining of the moon. In rainy and gloomy weather these birds remain silent in the hollow log 

 which affords them and the bats a common roost and refuge by day. When discovered in this 

 situation they ruffle their feathers, open their enormous mouths, and utter a murmur, almost like 

 the hissing of a snake, to intimidate the intruder. The Indians have many superstitions in rela- 

 tion both to this bird and the whippoorwill. 



Nuttall's Whippoorwill, A. JVicttallii, is seven inches long, and is found in western North 

 America. Its habits are not particularly known. 



