Many people are familiar with the cry who have never seen the bird itself; for Nature has taken great pains to blend the colours of its plumage with the browns and grays of the bark and rocks of the forest, and has given it the unusual habit of sitting lengthwise on the branch when it perches, so that it is invisible from below, and so closely resembles the branch against which it is so flattened as to escape notice.
The Whip-poor-will prefers the forest solitude, but in his nocturnal flights he often comes near houses, and sometimes calls close to a window with startling vehemence.
The breeding-habits of this strange bird are not the least of its peculiarities; when the ground-laid eggs are hatched, they are beset by many dangers from weasels, snakes, etc., but the young birds are almost invisible to the human eye, even if their location is known. The female is very adroit, and if she thinks her family has been discovered she will move them to another place, carrying them in her mouth as a cat does kittens. In fact, the Whip-poor-will is well protected both by nature and superstition; the farmer knows its value as an insect-destroyer, and the idle mischief-loving class, who kill birds from pure wantonness, give it a wide berth, as being the possessor of some occult power, akin to the "evil eye," and associate its sudden cry with death or calamity.
Nighthawk: Chordeiles nirginiamts.
Torch Bird.
Plate 44.
- Length:
- 9-10 inches.
- Male:
- Mottled black and rusty above, the breast finely barred, with a V-shaped white spot on throat. Wings brown and large, white spot extending entirely through them, being conspicuous in flight; white bar on tail. In the female, the white markings are either veiled with rusty or absent.
- Note:
- A skirling sound while on the wing, — "Skirk—S-k-l-rk!"
- Season:
- May to October; common summer resident.
- Breeds:
- Gulf States to Labrador.
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