Birds of Allegany Park 289 



The nest is a hollow on the ground in the forest, usually con- 

 taining four eggs. The female sits very closely on her eggs. The 

 rinding of nests and downy young in the Park is reported by sev- 

 eral persons. 



Whip-poor- will. Antrostomus vociferus vociferus (Wils.) 



This bird is likely to be known to the Park visitor mainly if not 

 entirely by its voice. Rarely one sees a bird in the forest, by almost 

 stepping on it, whereupon it flies to some nearby limb, on which it 

 perches lengthwise. The mottled plumage, long wings and noiseless 

 flight easily identify it. Only the Nighthawk is at all like it, and 

 that bird is not likely to be found in the forest. 



How common the Whip-poor-will is in the Park it is hard to say. 

 I did not happen to see a single individual, and did not explore 

 much of the Park area at night when it is most often heard. In 

 July one or more birds were always to be heard on the hillsides near 

 Tunesassa (Quaker Bridge). 



The call of this bird has given it its common name. It is re- 

 peated over and over with perfect rhythm. There is considerable 

 variation but all the birds I heard in the Park sing with the first 

 note medium in pitch, the second low, and the last high and not 

 slurred. 



The Whip-poor-will makes no nest, but lays its two mottled eggs 

 on the ground in the forest, where they are likely to be found only 

 by accident. 



Winter Wren. N annus hiemalis hiemalis (Vieill.) 



The Winter Wren is even smaller than the House Wren, with 

 a shorter tail and rounder body. The color of the back is a richer 

 brown, barred with dark brown on wings and tail. The under parts 

 are also brown, but somewhat lighter. 



This little bird is rather rare in the Park. I met. with but two, 

 one near English Run, perhaps a female, for it did not sing ; and 

 the other in the Big Basin, a male that sang its delightful, rapid, 

 bubbling song over and over again. The bird frequents dense, 

 dark forests where it lives among the old logs and roots of wind- 

 falls, seldom going far above ground. 



The song is varied and longer than most bird songs, and delivered 

 in a high, sweet voice that does not seem loud, but carries a con- 

 siderable distance. It is quite varied in both pitch and time, but 

 usually contains a long trilled note in the middle or near the end, 

 that suggests a note of the canary. While hardly to be ranked with 

 the thrushes this bird is one of the finest singers in the forest, far 

 ahead of the warblers or the vireos. The song belongs to the deep 

 cool shade of the forest, and suggests to the bird lover who asso- 

 ciates sounds with places, old moss-covered logs and a forest floor 

 covered with fern, partridge berry, goldthread and wood sorrel. 



The nest of this wren is hidden in a crevice of an old stump or 

 the roots of an overturned tree. It is made of twigs and moss and 

 lined with feathers. 



