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The Whip - poor - will 
action would bring sorrow to the household. It seems odd that people 
should be superstitious about anything as harmless as a bird, but in rural 
communities one often finds people who believe much ill-luck may happen 
to them if a Whip-poor-will sings too close to the house. If they were 
better acquainted with this gentle, feathered creature, they would surely 
know that nothing evil could come from it. 
Many more people have heard this bird call than have ever seen it, 
for, like the owl, its day begins only when the sun goes down, and before 
the sun comes up again it has settled to sleep on the dead leaves that 
cover the ground in the thicker parts of the woods. It appears never 
to give its call during the daytime. While hunting for wild flowers you 
will sometimes come upon its hiding-place. It must sleep with one ear 
open, for the bird seems always to hear you before you see it, and on 
silent wings it will rise and fly quickly out of sight among the bushes. 
If such an experience should happen to one in the months of May 
or June, it is quite worth while to search the leaves very carefully, for 
you may have stumbled upon the nest, which, in reality, is no nest at all, 
but is simply a place on the leaves that the mother- 
Nest bird has chosen to be the temporary home of her little 
ones. The faintly spotted, cream-colored eggs so 
closely resemble the faded, washed-out, last season’s leaves on which 
they are lying, that it takes a sharp eye, indeed, to find them. So one 
should proceed slowly, lest an unfortunate step might crush the two little 
oblong beauties. Usually one is not quite certain of the exact spot from 
which the bird flew. On such occasions I sometimes place my hat or 
handkerchief on the ground near the place, and, like a dog hunting for 
a lost trail, begin to walk around the spot, increasing the circle con- 
stantly as I go. By this means, sooner or later, one will be pretty sure 
to find the eggs if they are there. 
If, when the bird flies, it soon comes to the earth again, and appears 
to be sufifering from sudden injury, you may be sure that it has a secret 
that it is trying to keep from you, and, by feigning a broken wing, it 
hopes you will follow in an attempt to capture it. 
Feigning Injury If you approach the bird, it will fly before you a 
few yards at a time until, having led you away a safe 
distance from the nest, it will suddenly recover, and, then, rising strong 
on the wing, you will see it no more. Doubtless the eggs are often saved 
from destruction in this way, for a hunting dog, fox, or ’coon, will seek 
to catch the bird, and entirely overlook the presence of eggs or young. 
If the eggs have hatched you will need to look even closer if you 
are to be rewarded. The two little Whip-poor-wills, with their soft, 
downy coats, will lie motionless on the leaves, without even so much as 
an eyelid moving to betray their presence. Their coloring, too, blends 
so wonderfully with their surroundings that I sometimes wonder if any 
enemy is ever able to find them. 
In many of the Southern States lives the Chuck-will’s-widow, which 
also bears the name given to its call. It is larger than the Whip-poor- 
