208 
ORDERS OF BIRDS— ODD FAMILIES 
When this bird alights upon a tree to rest, 
it chooses a large and nearly horizontal limb, on 
which it usually sits lengthwise. As it sits mo- 
tionless on a large limb, the bird strongly resem- 
bles a knot. This is a trans-continental bird, 
being found from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in 
wooded regions, and northward to the Mackenzie 
River. 
The Whippoorwill 1 needs no introduction. 
It is more than a bird. It is a national 
favorite. 
When the mantle of night has fallen, and the 
busy world is still, we who are in the country in 
summer often hear a loud, clear, melodious 
whistle from somewhere near the barn. As 
plainly as print, it exclaims, “ Whip-Foor-Will'!” 
and repeats it, again and again. Before each 
regular call, there is a faint “chuck,” or catch- 
ing of the breath, strong emphasis on the “whip,” 
and at the end a piercing whistle which is posi- 
tively thrilling. 
Sometimes the bird will come and perch within 
thirty feet of your tent-door, and whistle at the 
rate of forty whippoorwills to the minute. Its 
call awakens sentimental reflections, and upon 
most persons exercises a peculiar, soothing in- 
fluence. It has been celebrated in several beau- 
tiful poems and songs. 
The range of this interesting bird is the same 
as that of the nighthawk. In the South, both 
are replaced by another goatsucker called, from 
its whistle, the Chuck-Will’s-Widow. Until 
actually hearing it, one can scarcely believe that 
any bird of this Order can say things as plainly 
as this bird says “Chuck Will’s Wid-ow!” The 
Pacific states, from British Columbia to Mexico, 
and eastward to Nebraska, have the Poor-Will. 
THE SWIFT FAMILY. 
Micropodidae. 
The Chimney-Swift, or Chimney-“Swal- 
low ,” 2 has been for a century or more classified 
with the swallows and martins, but recent studies 
of its anatomy have caused its removal from their 
group. This is the bird whose nest and young 
sometimes tumble down into your fireplace in 
spring or summer, and cause commotion. 
To me, the nesting habits of this bird seem 
1 An-tros'to-mus vo-cif er-us. Length, about 9.50 
inches. 
2 Ghac-tu'ra pe-lag'i-ca. Length, 5 inches. 
like faulty instinct. A chimney is a poor place 
of residence for a bird, and the habitants fre- 
quently come to grief. If the aperture is small, 
the householder objects to having the chimney 
stopped by nests; and if it is large, so many 
Swifts may nest there that their noise is an an- 
noyance. These birds get up and out before 
daylight, to hunt insects that fly at night, and 
doubtless many a “ghost” in a “haunted-house” 
is nothing more frightful than a colony of these 
birds in the chimney. 
This bird has the ability to fly straight up, 
or straight down, else it could not enter or leave 
a chimney. It is quite an aerial gymnast, and 
feeds only when on the wing. Its flight is very 
graceful, and both in manner of flight and person- 
al appearance it so closely resembles a short- 
tailed swallow that there are few persons who can 
distinguish the difference in the flying birds. 
One strongly marked peculiarity of this bird 
is that the tip of each tail-feather ends in a sharp, 
wire-like point, caused by the shaft of the feather 
being projected considerably beyond the vane. 
The eastern Chimney-Swift ranges westward to 
the Great Plains. On the Pacific slope is found 
another species, a close parallel to the preceding, 
called the Vaux Swift. The White-Throated Swift 
of the Pacific States is distinguished by its white 
throat and breast, and a few white patches else- 
where. 
THE HUMMING-BIRD FAMILY. 
Trochilidae. 
The Ruby-Throated Humming-Bird 3 rep- 
resents the Family which contains the smallest of 
all birds. When the trumpet-vine on your 
veranda is in flower, you will see this delicate 
creature dart into view, like a large-winged in- 
sect, and poise itself easily and gracefully in mid- 
air at the mouth of the most conspicuous flower. 
Its tiny wings beat the air with such extreme 
rapidity and machine-like regularity that you 
see only a gray, fan-shaped blur on each side of 
the living bird. It holds itself in position with 
the greatest exactitude, thrusts its long and 
delicate beak into the heart of the flower, and, 
with the skill of a surgeon probing a wound, 
extracts the tiny insects or the honey so dear to 
its palate. 
3 Troch'i-lus col'u-bris. Length, 3.25 inches. 
