. American ornithology, for home and school . lorida. Like the last species, they do not, of their own accord, fly about indaylight, which time they pass in the seclusion of woods, perchedlengthwise along limbs of trees, or on or under logs or rocks that arewell screened from view by underbrush. At dusk they may be seenflitting about like shadows, their flight being the embodiment of graceand accomplished without the slightest sound. As darkness settlesover the earth and objects are but dimly seen, Whip-poor-wills gosweeping in graceful curves over the meadows and along the edges ofthe woods,
. American ornithology, for home and school . lorida. Like the last species, they do not, of their own accord, fly about indaylight, which time they pass in the seclusion of woods, perchedlengthwise along limbs of trees, or on or under logs or rocks that arewell screened from view by underbrush. At dusk they may be seenflitting about like shadows, their flight being the embodiment of graceand accomplished without the slightest sound. As darkness settlesover the earth and objects are but dimly seen, Whip-poor-wills gosweeping in graceful curves over the meadows and along the edges ofthe woods, gorging themselves with the myriads of dusk flying insectsand crawling beetles. Sometimes they will alight on the ground andawkwardly hop about after the beetles, and again they will hoveraround the trunk of a tree feeding upon moths and insects in the crevi-ces of the bark. Like the Chuck-wills-widow, they get their name from their call, anda weird note it is, especially on a still clear night when they are partic- 142 AMERICAN AMERIOAN ORNITHOLOGY. 143 ularly noisy. Often when I have been camping, have they kept usawake for hours with their 7vhip-poor-wills, coming from first oneside of the tent, then the other and sounding startlingly loud and would often sit outside the tent watching for them but, while theirvoices would be continually changing their location, we would only oc-casionally catch a glimpse of one when he flitted by within a few feet ofus or against the sky directly overhead. Quite often they will swoopdown close to you and so quiet is their passage that you will feel ratherthan see or hear them, although at times, they will utter a gutturalcluck as they pass. On account of their mournful and uncanny cries,they are often regarded by the superstitious as birds of ill omen, andare consequently disliked by many; they are, however, one of our mostuseful birds; fortunately their habits of seclusion during the day time,and their protective colo
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1901
