46 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS.—CLASS II. AVES. 
About the 20th of August, after the young have become able to provide 
for themselves, all the families in a neighborhood assemble in a large, scat- 
tered flock; and, after having become completely recruited from the labors 
of incubation, they all leave for the south. 
The Whippoorwill is also well known to the inhabitants of the rural dis- 
tricts in the United States, east of the great central plains. It arrives 
from the south generally about the second week in May. Its habits are 
not well known, as it is not a very common species, and it inhabits the most 
secluded spots in the deep woods ; but its song is well known to all, as. are 
its nocturnal wanderings in search for insect food. This bird, as also the 
Night Hawk, is, to the farmer, one of the most valuable among the feath- 
ered tribes: its food consists almost entirely of night-flying Lepidoptera, 
and the number of these insects destroyed is immense. 
The peculiar song of this bird is heard at early eve, and until late into 
the night, during the mating and part of the breeding seasons. It is not 
uttered in the depths of the wilderness alone ; but the bird, perching on the 
well-sweep, on the eaves of a low shed, or even on the door-sill of the 
farmer’s house, pours out its melancholy strain. The description, by Alex- 
ander Wilson, of the habits of this bird, is so accurate and comprehensive, 
that we will not presume to attempt another. He says, — 
“The notes seem pretty plainly to articulate the words, which have been 
generally applied to them, whip-poor-will, the first and last syllables being 
uttered with great emphasis, and the whole in about a second to each repe- 
tition; but, when two or more males meet, their whippoorwill altercations 
become much more rapid and incessant, as if each were straining to over- 
power or silence the other. When near, you often hear an introductory 
cluck between the notes. At these times, as well as at almost all others, 
they fly low, not more than a few feet from the surface, skimming about the 
house and before the door, alighting on the wood-pile, or settling on the 
roof. ‘Towards midnight they generally become silent, unless in clear 
moonlight, when they are heard, with little intermission, till morning. If 
there be a ereek near, with high, precipitous, bushy banks, they are sure to 
be found in such situations. During the day they sit in the most retired, 
solitary, and deep-shaded parts of the woods, gene rally on high ground, 
where they repose in silence. When disturbed, they rise within a few feet, 
sail low and slowly through the woods for thirty or forty yards, and gener- 
ally settle on a low branch or on the ground. Their sight appears deficient 
during the day, as, like owls, they seem then to want that vivacity for which 
they are distinguished in the morning and evening twilight. They are rarely 
shot at or molested; and, from being thus transiently seen in the obscurity 
of dusk, or in the deep umbrage of the woods, no wonder their particular 
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