642 A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
Note: “Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will,” repeated usually five times 
in succession, followed by a jarring noise during flight. 
Season: Late April to September. Common summer resident, except 
near the shore. , , 
Nest: Builds none, but substitutes a mossy hollow in rock or groun . 
Eggs: 2, creamy-white, marked freely, and spotted with brown. 
This weird bird, with its bristling, fly-trap mouth, who 
sleeps all day and prowls by night, comes to us late in April, 
if the season is warm, clamoring and waking strange echoes 
in the bare woods, and in early September, mute and mys- 
terious, he gathers his flock and moves silently on, for the 
Whip-poor-will has not at any time even a transient home to 
abandon ; like the pilgrims of old, the earth is his only bed. 
THE WOOD THRUSH AND THE WHIP-POOR-WILL 
When the faintest flush of morning 
Overtints the distant hill, 
If you zi taken, 
If you listen, 
You may hear the Whip-poor-will. 
Like an echo from the darkness, 
Strangely wild across the glen, 
Sound the notes of his finale, 
And the woods are still again. 
Soon upon the dreamy silence 
There will come a gentle trill, 
Like the whisper of an organ, 
Or the murmur 
Of a rill, 
And then a burst of music, 
Swelling forth upon the air, 
Till the melody of morning 
Seems to come from everywhere. 
A Thrush, as if awakened by 
The parting voice of night, 
Gives forth a joyous welcome to 
The coming of the light. 
In early evening twilight 
Again the Wood Thrush sings, 
Like a voice of inspiration 
With the melody of strings; 
A song of joy ecstatic, 
And a vesper hymn of praise, 
For the glory of the summer 
And the promise of the days. 
