AMERIOAN ORNITHOLOGY. 143 



ularly noisy. Often when I have been camping, have they kept us 

 awake for hours with their whip-poor-wills, coming from first one 

 side of the tent, then the other and sounding startlingly loud and clear. 

 We would often sit outside the tent watching for them but, while their 

 voices would be continually changing their location, we would only oc- 

 casionally catch a glimpse of one when he flitted by within a few feet of 

 us or against the sky directly overhead. Quite often they will swoop 

 down close to you and so quiet is their passage that you will feel rather 

 than see or hear them, although at times, they will utter a guttural 

 cluck as they pass. On account of their mournful and uncanny cries, 

 they are often regarded by the superstitious as birds of ill omen, and 

 are consequently disliked by many; they are, however, one of our most 

 useful birds; fortunately their habits of seclusion during the day time, 

 and their protective coloration makes them so inconspicuous that few of 

 them are killed. 



Like the Chuck-will's-widows they lay their two eggs upon the leaves 

 with no attempt at nest building, in fact it is this absence of a nest that 

 renders both the eggs and the young so difficult to find, for they each 

 resemble the ground so closely that they can hardly be seen ten feet 

 away. The mother bird hangs very closely to her chrrges and often 

 ruffles her feathers up and hisses at an intruder. When they have 

 young, they usually feign lameness in order to draw attention to them- 

 selves. The young are covered with a sc^t white down and a few days 

 after hatching follow their parents about on the ground; the adults 

 waddle or hop awkwardly, but the young are quite nimble. 



Although Whip-poor-wills are quite common, they are, of course, 

 much oftener heard than seen and a great many persons, seeing Night- 

 hawks, call them these birds; we frequently meet with individuals that 

 refuse to believe there is any difference between the two birds, althoug 

 the differences are very marked and apparent as may be seen from 

 the drawings. 



NIGHTHAWK. 



No- 430. Chordeiles virgiuianus. 



Nighthawks have the widest range of any of the Goatsuckers, being 

 represented by its sub-species from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, 

 and from the Gulf to Labrador and Alaska. They winter south of the 

 United States to northern South America. 



