THE WHIP-POOR-WILL. 147 



These points furnish probably about the western limits of its Ijreediug range 

 in this State. It is apparently a very rare summer resident in Florida, and in 

 the im^iiediate vicinity of tlie south Atlantic and Grulf coasts in Alabama and 

 Mississippi; it becomes somewhat more generally distributed throughout the 

 hill country of western South Carolina, northern Greorgia, and Alabama, but 

 is still rare here. The late Dr. William C Avery, one of the most reliable 

 ornithologists of the South, met the Whip-poor-will near Anniston, Alabama, 

 in July, and while rather rare, it unquestionably breeds there to a limited 

 extent. Mr. W. J. Myers records it as sometimes breeding in Hillsboro County, 

 Florida, where he found a nest and two eggs on April 5, 1893; and Mr. E. A. 

 iMcIlhenny informs me that he found it nesting on Avery's Island, in southern 

 Louisiana, where it was a rare summer resident, but far more common in fall 

 and winter. He also says: "These birds are very tame, for on two occasions, 

 while sitting still in the twilight to observe the movements of some Owls, I have 

 had them come so close that I could have caught them. On one occasion one lit 

 on my knee, and another on my foot as it was extended before me." The Florida 

 and Louisiana breeding records are the most southern I know of, and it breeds 

 more or less commonly in suitable localities throughout the remainder of its 

 range. Like many other species, it is very much attached to its once chosen 

 haunts, and will return to them from year to year, often nesting in the identical 

 spot, or at most within a few feet of it, if the immediate surroundings have not 

 been changed too much in the meantime. It returns soutli again during the 

 first part of October. Its favorite resorts are dense, shady thickets, bordering 

 on clearings and river valleys; rocky and brush-covered hillsides, and rolling 

 country, interspersed alternately with woods and cultivated tracts, are preferred 

 to the more level prairie regions. In the latter it is only found. along the river 

 bluffs, among the shrubbery, and rarely any distance awaj on the open and 

 nearly treeless plains, unless at dusk and in early hours of the night, while 

 in search of food on the roads leading through these. Its flight is strong, 

 swift, graceful, and entirely noiseless, gliding like a shadow close along the 

 ground in pursuit of night- prowling insects, mainly Lepidoptera and Coleoptera, 

 on which it feeds almost exclusively. In the Western States, which are some- 

 times overrun by swarms of Rocky Mountain Locusts, it also feeds largely on 

 these when abundant. Considered from an economic point of view, the Whip- 

 poor-will is an eminently useful and beneficial bird, deserving the fullest 

 protection. Like Chuck-will's-widow, it is crepuscular and nocturnal in its 

 habits, and is rarely seen in the daytime unless accidentally di-iven from its 

 hiding place. It passes the hours of daylight in shady retreats, either on the 

 ground or on low limbs of trees (on which it always perches lengthwise) on old 

 logs, and on or under rocks well covered by underbrush. It is rarely found at 

 higher altitudes than 3,500 feet. The familiar call note of the Whip-poor-will 

 is well expressed by its name, but it sounds to me more like "Whip-poor- wick," 

 especially when uttered close to the listener. On their first arrival on the 

 breeding grounds this call is especially frequently and rapidly repeated at the 



