50 



BIRDS OF ARKANSAS. 



The food of this species, according to Bendire, consists mainly of 

 beetles, winged ants, and other insects, especially the night-flying 

 Lepidoptera. Strange as it may seem, it occasionally captures and 

 swallows small birds. 



Fig. 1.— Breeding area of the chuck-will's- widow (Antrostomus carolinensis) in Arkansas. 



Whippoorwill. Antrostomus vociferus. 



The whippoorwill occurs as a summer resident in the more ele- 

 vated portions of the Ozark region, where it often occupies the same 

 localities as the chuck- will's- widow. It is recorded as abundant at 

 Clinton, arriving there from the south March 31 and nesting in the 

 rocky ravines of the mountains. 1 It is reported also as breeding at 

 Pea Ridge, and I noted a few at Pettigrew about June 1, evidently 

 on their breeding grounds. As a migrant it is reported from Helena, 

 Newport, Monticello, and Delight, noted at the latter place March 31 

 and September 9 to 14. Like the preceding species, this bird is very 

 retiring in its habits and is rarely seen, though its loud voice at night 

 readily betrays its presence. The mistaken notion that this bird and 

 the nighthawk are the same species is very prevalent. The whip- 

 poorwill is one of the most valuable of all our birds, being a great 

 destroyer of moths, May beetles, caterpillars, and other harmful 

 insects. It has been known to eat the potato beetle and also the 

 Rocky Mountain locust. 



i Pleas, C. E., Oologist, VII, pp. 155, 156, 1890. 



