home to me, more and more, as I improve my acquaintance 
with the Whip-poor-will. To me, the song usually sounds like 
whip-poo-weel instead of the common description “whip- 
poor-will/ ’ 
All the birds of my acquaintance vary their song greatly at 
times. I have frequently heard the first syllable repeated to 
produce “whip-whip-poor-will.” I have also heard the song ter¬ 
minated after the first syllable and occasionally after the second 
syllable. Sometimes the continuity of the song is broken by 
pauses of varying length. 
These variations are no more unusual than the differences 
in the songs of individuals of other species, but the loudness 
and clearness of the Whip-poor-will’s song, and the absolute 
definiteness of identification, possibly obscure the interesting 
variety of song and habit to be noted on close acquaintance. 
Although the birds with which I am familiar usually sing 
from a straight limb of a tree, or from the ground, I find that 
the extreme end of a peaked roof has considerable appeal. A 
flat piazza rail, or fair sized post, is also frequently used. 
I have never heard the bird sing in flight, but on two occasions 
I have heard the chuck delivered with distinctness by a flying 
bird. 
An acquaintance who hired a camp in my neighborhood, and 
occupied it the past summer, says that the “yelling” of the 
Whip-poor-wills makes the place so unlivable that he will not 
return next year, but to me the bird is a source of continuous 
interest and pleasure, his friendship a thing to be carefully 
cultivated. Quiet and unobtrusive during the day, he is most 
active in the dusk of evening. He hunts for his living with the 
zest of a falcon, but is never too busy to stop at his various 
stations, and fill the air with his clear and enthusiastic song. 
The night of September nineteenth brought the first frost 
of the season and also my last record for the year. A single 
bird, close at hand, called twice but in the frosty air the song 
had a steely cold character quite different from the softer note 
of spring and summer. 
18 
