100 



NORTH AMERICA. 



site door or window. He has hitherto been supposed to subsist entirely on the honey which he 

 extracts from flowers. But he is known to feed on insects, as he has been seen for half an 

 hour at a time darting al little groups of insects with the dexterity of the flycatcher. 



Mr. Audubon thus describes this bird in Louisiana. " The humming bird does not shun 

 mankind as much as birds generally do. It frequently approaches flowers in the windows, or 

 even in rooms when the windows are kept open, during the extreme heat of the day, and 

 returns when not interrupted, as long as the flowers are unfaded. They are extremely abun- 

 dant during spring and summer, and wherever a fine plant of the trumpet-flower is met with in 

 the woods, one or more humming birds are generally seen about it, and now and then as many 

 as 10 or 12 at a time." 



The Belted Kingfisher (Alcedo Jllcyon) is a general inhabitant of the banks of all the rivers 



from Hudson's Bay to Mexico. Amidst the roar of a cata- 

 ract, or over the foam of a torrent, he sits perched upon ai\ 

 overhanging bough, glancing his piercing eye in every direc- 

 tion below for his scaly prey, which, with a sudden circular 

 plunge, he sweeps from their native element, and swallows in 

 an instant. Rapid streams, with high perpendicular banks, 

 are also favorite places of resort for this bird, not only be- 

 cause the fish are there more exposed to view, but because 

 those steep and high banks are the chosen situations for his 

 nest. Into these he digs 4 or 5 feet horizontally, and car- 

 ries in few materials. His voice is loud, harsh, and sudden, 

 and not unlike the twirling of a watchman's rattle. 



The Chuck- JViWs-Widoiv (Caprimulgus Carolinensis) . 

 This sohtary bird is rarely found north of Virginia and Ten- 

 nessee. It has sometimes been confounded with the Whip- 

 poor-will. It has derived its name from its notes, which 

 seem exactly to articulate those words. It commences its 

 singular call generally in the evening, soon after sunset, and 

 continues it with short occasional interruptions for several 

 hours. Towards morning these repetitions are renewed. 

 This note instantly attracts the attention of a stranger, and is 

 Belted Kingfisher. Strikingly different from that of the Whip-poor-will. In 



sound and articulation, it seems plainly to express the words 

 which have been applied to it, pronouncing every syllable leisurely and distinctly, putting the 

 principal emphasis on the last word. In a still evening it may be heard at the distance of 



nearly a mile ; the tones of its voice being stronger and 

 more full than those of the Whip-poor-wifl, who utters 

 his with much greater rapidity. 



The flight of this bird is low, skimming about the 

 surface of the ground, frequently settling on old logs or 

 on the fences, and from thence sweeping around in 

 pursuit of various insects that fly in the night. Like 

 the Whip-poor-will, it prefers the declivities of glens 

 and other deeply-shaded places, making the mountains 

 resound with echoes the whole evening. 



The Chuck-will's-vvidow lays two eggs, generally on 

 the ground in the woods ; it makes no nest. It is 

 twelve inches long ; the sides of the mouth are armed 

 Chuck-Will's-Widow. with numerous strong bristles ; head and back very 



deep brown, powdered with cream, rust, and bright 

 ferruginous, and marked with black ; breast black, and powdered with rust. 



The Whip-poor-will (C. vociferus), so called from his note, which resembles those 

 words, is a vejy singular bird, and universally known in the United States. During the day, 

 it sits in the most retii'ed and solitary parts of the woods, where it reposes. But in silence, 

 every morning and evening, you may hear his shrill repetitions of whip-poor-will, the first 

 and last syllables being uttered with great emphasis. When two or more of them are call 

 iig, the noise they make is really surprising. Their food appears to be large moths, grasshop- 



