THE WHIP-POOR-WILL. 



339 



ghostly noiselessness, only to drop down into the brush again a rod or so 

 away. It is almost idle to search for it with the eyes alone, so perfectly do 

 the softly blended colors of the Whippoorwill's plumage assimilate to those 

 of the leaf-strewn mold. On other occasions the bird may be seen resting 

 on some low limb or fence-post, and twice during migrations I have seen it 

 high in trees in broad daylight, squatting lengthwise of a dun-colored limb. 



Whippoor- 

 wills are crep- 

 uscular and 

 nocturnal in 

 habit, and se- 

 cure their in- 

 sect prey by fly- 

 ing tO' and fro 

 across bushy 

 pastures and 

 swampy mead- 

 ows. The bird's 

 enormous gape, 

 seconded by the 

 lengthy bristles 

 on either side 

 of the beak, 

 makes the pur- 

 suit about as 

 artless as that 

 of the entomol- 

 O' g i s t , who 

 sweeps the tops 

 of the weeds 

 with a mos- 

 quito - netting 

 bag, "catching 

 as catch can." 



These noc- 

 turnal fly-catch- 

 ers are rather 

 irregular in 

 their distribu- 

 tion about the 



TA, THE WHIPPOORWILL'S NEST. 



state, i hey are 



likely to appear almost anywhere during migrations ; but for a breeding haunt 



Photo by R. F. Griggs. 



