The Hazlehurst signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1883-1885, 1884-02-28
Iluutlng the WhippoOrwlll.

most never time when something Oi
interest Is not going on. II Il rams 80
violently that ono does not care To vent.
urc ont Of doors, hc may yet look from
his window and see the birds busy In
the trees or upon the grass. Even nj
night have gone out to discover Whist
II was that set tho black-billcd cuckoo
accomplishing to the darkness, and
caused the homcly hair.bir,l or chip
ping-sparrOw Ia utter his plain, ycl
musical, trill under the silent stars. TN
the sides Of the mountains hercabouts,
on warm. moonlight summer nights,
one who will take the trouble 10 tramp
through some very uncomfortable ter.
ritory, cncumhc.cd by rocks and over
grown with young, but vigorous, bushes,
may fin himself in the midst of n very
lively community. Here those weird
np.l ahosily birds, the whippoorw,lls,
sNdiIn-in grea, n'rnib-,-, .'ssinp all
day the leaf.strcwn ground. which their
plumagc so closely initiates that they
seem n part Of the earth Itself, and at
night waking into n nervous activity
for which their sluggish apathy during
the hours Of sunshine hardly prepares
the mind of the student of their habits.
In shooting by day over the mountains,
have often come upon the drowsy con-
grcgalions of these night birds, almost
stepping upon item before they would
Nv. and then seeing them rise nj my
feet and ilulicr away as noisclcsSly rs
owls. or ~ ii they were dry leaves
urged onward by the wind.
But for the silence Of their flight they
mi.ht h. m stakcn for woOdcpcks. and
are quite ~ llect; yet they are rluc.
tant To- ily far, and soon nlight upon
some brunch, which they always strike
upon at right angles, like other birds,
hut Immediately turn aud rest upon II
lcngthw,sc. This peculiarly they share
with their cousins. the nigh,.hawks.
The two varieties AFRO often considered
identical by rustic Observers hcrcabouts,
although differing from each other in
appearance and habits, the cause oi
their manner OF resting on tree branches
evidently being the weakness of Their
feet. which arr almost rudmcntary, and
an Inheritance from many generations
of rarih-squatting ancestors. The
proper place Of the wlippoorwill and
night-hawk j. upon the ground, rock,
or some other broad, i'at surface. They
arc not fond Of trees. aud seldom rest in
them, and when they do so, they are
partly dependent for support upon The
resting of their breast, upon the branch.
4 whippOorwilrs eye is CUTE express
sioul,s-. IL shows no not ccablc 'li,t ne
ton between pupil and iris, and. Ike
that of all purely nocturnal hiri.. 1t Is
constructed Tor the adm 'S.ion bf nll The
li.ht thai can pUs.ibly h. ubtaincd.
There Is thing very impressive
in this s,Olid and unyarying stare ci
the night birds | have seen nearly
every emotion in the eyes of my fcnth'
cred friends Of the day, hut those ot the
night invariably hold n mask before
any feeling, they may experience. But
To return To the whippoorwills. Al
nigh, the 'lusky thichots in which they
swarm become sin.ularly animated.
The strange song rpsounds on every
side. and those who have heard II only
al a Distance can have no idea of the
Tremendous volume of IL when II j, M.
tered close nj hand. II seems impossi.
be llat one bird coul make such n
racket. and when twenty arc at II nj
once the resultant uproar strangely ai'
feclS the nerves with its ccric and al'
mos, dabolical Quality. During the ut.
tcrancc Of the sOhg The birds rr' ut rest,
either upon some rock or low bush, and
at it, CONCLUSION they dart rap dly about.
scizing upon the insects, chiefly the
night-llying colcopicr.r aud lepidoptcrr,
which form their food.
They are astonishlnsly swift in theIi
movements, aud their flight. half seen
In Tho moonlight MS i siiis through the
trees. is exceedingly graceful, pictur.
esluesncss bcing lent To 1t by RAPID
openings and shuttings. of the ian-likc
tails. the broad white patches on each
side of which become ~ such times very
conspicuous objects. have sometimes
shot these birds simply upon the disclos-
IRE of their whereabouts that was made
by this quick display Of white feathers,
| but should not like tO mention the
quantity of ammunition that was wasted
before this result was accomplished.
The nlgh;-hawk is not so purely noe
tnrnal bird ~ the whippoorwill. nl.
though all night long may be heard
above the town his mOnotonous squeak
aud the dull sound Of his swoop NJ he
falls through the air to capture an in-
sect far below him. IL /, like the noise
produced hy blowing into tho bunghole
Of barrel. On cloudy days. however,
he hawks about from sunrise until dark.
nnd il has been my observation that
when he does so hc rests during the
night. ,lo not remember ever To- have
heard one hunting on cloudy nights,
and conclude that they require more
light for their quest than the whippoor-
will does.
Occasionally tho night-hawk comes
out in broad sunlight. and thus further
coLfuscs the scarchor into his habits. i
remember on one occasion, when hunt
ing in the meadows late in the summer
with n friend, seeing n cloud OF these
bir,ls rise from the side of Mount Hol.
yoke, as IL at prcarrangcd signal, and
GROSS the rivrr towrrl ns We had
never seen night.hnwks in flock before,
and stood and watched them with great
interest. There must have been q
couple of thousand in tho company. and
on reaching the meadows they spread
out and Qnnrtcrcd over the ground ut .
height of about ten feet, catching up
the insects that rose from the clover
The van was led by the older birds. as
we discovered by observing on their
tails the white band which marks tho
adult of the species. and the younger
members, which were evidently birds
of the year. came behind. They mani
tested complete Indifference to our pres.
cnce, and we, perceiving an unexampled
opportunity to secure some fine speci-
mems OF this not very caslly-obtained
variety for our cabinets, began picking
of the best of thom. We shot none cx-
cent those in whose tails We could sec
the white band, yet We secured more
than twenty before the van of the flock
passed by and the immature members
came up, and rs they were passing very
rapidly. this fact may Indicate tic size
OF the swarm. Such an incident l am
inclined TO regard rs unusual. ] had
before. and have since. observed . dozen
or twenty birds quartcring about the
meadows at the same time, but neither
my experience nor that of other col
lcctors in the town includes any other
such large flock as that mentioned