148 T^IFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



beginning of dusk, and tlirougliout the early part of the night, sometimes for 

 minutes at a time, without any perceptible intermission, and one can then easily 

 decoy these birds by imitating this call. 



They are said to sing also occasionally during the day, but I never heard 

 one at such a time, even during cloudy weather. As the breeding season 

 advances they become more and more silent, but they sometimes sing as late 

 as September, never with the vim and persistency, however, as on their first 

 arrival, when frequently half a dozen or more of these birds may be heard at 

 the same time, forming a perfect chorus, their notes blending so completely 

 into each other that they sound like a continuous "whipper-whipper-whipper," 

 the last syllable being entirely lost in the medley of noise produced; still such 

 vocal concerts are not especially unpleasant to the ear, and rather lull the 

 listener into a sound sleep. 



About dusk the Whip-poor-will emerges from its hiding place in some 

 neighboring thicket and goes hawking for its evening meal. A considerable 

 portion of its food is picked up from the ground, especially on well-traveled 

 roads, on which it frequently indulges in a dust bath to rid its body of vermin. 

 It will visit some favorite spots regularly, and slightly sandy roads are jjreferred 

 to heavier soil. Its movements on the ground are rather awkward, its feet being 

 weak and short; but few of our birds are more graceful on the wing than the 

 Whip-poor-will. I have seen one touch the back of its Avings tog'ether as it 

 swept by me, arrest its noiseless flight instantly, drop to the ground almost 

 perpendicularly, pick up some insect, and dash away as suddenly as it halted. 

 At such times it occasionally utters a low, purring or grunting noise like 

 "dack-dack," and another sounding- like " zue-see, zue-see," which can not be 

 heard unless one is close by. 



While on a collecting trip in Herkimer County, New York, with Dr. 

 William L. Ralph, in June, 1893, I witnessed a most amusing performance, 

 which one may see perhaps once in a lifetime. I happened to be in a little out- 

 building, some 20 feet in the rear of the house at which we were stopping, early 

 on the evening of the 24th, about half an hour after sundown, Avhen I heard a 

 peculiar, Ioav, clucking noise outside, which was directly folloAved by the familiar 

 call of "whip-poor-will." A pair of these birds jsaid us regular A'isits from the 

 neighboring forest, often perching on the roof of the house, on the garden fence, 

 on the limbs of a crab-apple tree near by, or occasionally alighting on the sandy 

 road passing in front of the house, Avhere they would allow themselves to be 

 closely approached before taking wing, and treated us to a nightly concert. 

 Directly alongside of the small outbuilding previously referred to, a barrel of 

 sand and lime had been spilled, and from the numerous tracks of these birds, 

 made by them nightly afterAvards, it Avas eAddent that this spot Avas visited 

 regularly, and Avas the trysting place of at least one pair. Looking through 

 a small aperture, I saw one of the birds AA^addling about in a very excited 

 manner OA^er the sand-covered space, AAdiich Avas perhaps 2 by 3 feet square, 

 and it was so much interested in its own performance that it did not notice me, 



