204 
WHIPPOORWILL. 
reputed fine powers of song. Yet the notes of these birds are certainly very fine when 
heard to advantage. I well remember when this unique song first greeted my ear. I was 
floating leisurely in my boat along a New England river on a clear, calm night in early 
June, lazily watching the play of the moonlight upon the water, not caring to break the 
delightful hush which reigned, by even dropping an oar, when, from the shadowing forest, 
came the low, plaintive song of the Whippoorwill. Distance truly lends enchantment to 
this lay, for when I heard it then and as I have heard it many times since, coming from 
the far away woodlands, it did not seem as if the peculiar cadence could be produced by 
a bird; it is so mournful but withal go singularly sweet that it appears more like an exha¬ 
lation from the purple mist which hangs over the valleys, harmonizing as perfectly with 
the surroundings as does the gentle sighing of the perfumed air through the tree-tops of 
the forests. 
When heard near at hand, however, even after the breeding season, when the notes 
are given quite distinctly, all these illusions vanish for then there is a harsher tone per¬ 
ceptible which is not very agreeable. The delivery of the song is always hurried and, 
although there are three notes, distinctly pronounced, yet their resemblance to the sylla¬ 
bles whip-poor-will is more or less fanciful and might be equally well illustrated by oth¬ 
er sounds. For example, Cooper, in an introduction to one of his novels, says that the birds 
distinctly articulate wish-ton-wish, but the best rendering of it that I ever heard was from 
the Seminoles who call it wac-co-lar , with the accent on the last syllable just as the birds 
repeat it. The females never sing and only utter a chuck when alarmed. This same note 
is also given by the males and often precedes the song. 
The Whippoorwills are abundant in Florida throughout the winter and I even found 
them common in the thickets at Key West, but they are silent until about the middle of 
March, after which they soon migrate northward. They continue to sing in their summer 
resorts throughout the season and I once heard one utter the full song several times at 
Watsontown, Pennsylvania, on the night of the thirtieth of August. These birds remain 
concealed in the thick woods during the day, resting on the ground or on a rock or branch 
near it. They are strictly nocturnal, never flying voluntarily during day-light, but when 
disturbed, they will rise and make their way swiftly through the tangled undergrowth, a- 
voiding the intervening obstacles as skillfully as in the evening, settling down again in 
some secluded place. They are quite shy birds and will never admit of a near approach, 
but are tamer in the night than in the day, for they will then frequently emerge from the 
woods to rest upon house-tops and sound their cries. They will select particular points on 
which to light and will visit them repeatedly. Unlike the Night Hawks, they do not, usu¬ 
ally hunt about the field in search of their prey, but will sit in some moderately elevated 
situation, like a post-top, and launch out at the passing insects, much after the manner 
practiced by the Flycatchers. They are very fond of dusting themselves in roads or paths 
and will frequently resort to them for this purpose. They will also settle on newly ploughed 
fields and walk in the freshly upturned earth, a habit which I have also observed in the 
Night Hawks. 
The Whippoorwills deposit their eggs in the woods without any nest, about the last 
