The Red Cloud chief., 1884-02-29
Hunting the Whippoorwill.

interest Is moi going on. 1T it IA Ms 81
Violently that one does not care TO vent
ure out of doors, he may yet look from
his window and see the birds busy in
the trees or upon the grass. Even at
night have gone out to discover what
it was that set the black-billed cuckoo
accomplishing to The darkness, and
caused the homely hair-bird or chip
ping-sparrow to utter his plain, vet
musical, trill under the silent stars. On
the sides of the mountains h~ereabcuts,
on warm, moonlight summer nights,
one who will take the trouble 10 tramp
through some very uncomfortable ter
ritory, encountered by rocks and over
grown with young. but vigorous, bushes,
may find himself in the midst of very
lively community. Here those weird
and ghostly birds, the whippoorwillS,
swarm in great numbers, hugging all
day the leaf-strewn ground. which their
plumage so closely initiates that they
seem a part of the earth itself, and at
night waking into a 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 W the mountains,
| have often come upon the drowsv con-
gregaiions of these night birds, almost
stepping upon them before they would
fly, and then seeing them rise AT my
feet and flutter away as noiSeleSsly as
owls. or as if they were dry leaves
urged onward by the wind.
But for the silence of their flight thev
might be mistaken for woodcocks. and
are quite as fleet: yet they are reluc-
tant to fly far. and soon alight upon
some branch. which they always strike
upon at right angles, like other birds.
but Immediately turn and rest upon it
lengthwise. This peculiarly they share
with their cousins. the night-hawks.
The W. varieties ale often considered
identical by rustic Observers lereabouts.
although differing from each other in
appearance and habits. the cause of
their manner of resting on tree branches
evidently being the weakness OF their
feet, which are almost ru~dimentary. and
an inheritance from many generations
OF earth-squatting ancestors. The
proper place of the whippoorwill and
night-iawk is upon the ground, 4 rock,
or ON other broad. fat surface. They
are not fond of trees. and seldom rest in
them, and when they do so. they are
partly dependent for support upon the
resting of their breasts upon the branch.
A whippoorwiirS eye is cutie express
sionless. Ii shows no noticeable diStinc-
ton between pupil and iris. and, like
that of all purely nocturnal birds. it is
constructed for the admission of all the
light that can possibly be obtained.
There IS something very impressive
IN this stolid and unvarying stare Of
the night birds. | have seer nearly
every emotion in the ewes Of my fcath-
cred friends of the day, but those of the
night invariably hold a mask before
any feelings they NAV experience. But
To return TO the whippOorwIlls. At
night the duskv thicketS in which they
swarm become >ingularly animated.
The strange song re>ounds on every
side. and those who have heard it only
IT a distance a have no idea of the
tremendous volume of it when it is ut
tered close at hand. 1t seems impoSsi-
bic that one bird could make such a
racket. and when twenty are at it ut
one the resultant uproar strangely af-
fleets the nerves with its cerie and al
most d abolical quality. During the ut
terance of the song the birds are ut rest,
ether upon some rock or low bush, and
at lis conclusion they dart rapidly about.
selling upon the insects. chiefly the
night-fiying coleoptera and lepidoptera,
which form their food.
They are astonishinrly swift in their
movements. and their fight, half seen
IN the moonlight as it sits through the
frees. is exceedingly graceful, pictur-
esIuesness being lent TO it by rapid
openings and shuttings of the fan-like
tails. the broad white patches on each
side of which become al sucl, 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 10 mention the
quantity of ammunition that was wasted
before this result was accomplished.
The night-hawk is not so purely a noe
turnal bird As the whippOorwill, al
though all night long may be heard
above the town his mOnotonouS squeak
and the dull sound OF his swoop rs he
iii iIiou-H tilt al ~ CdpiuIt All III
sect far below him. 1t i like the noise
produced by blowing into the bunghole
of a barrel. On cloudy days, however.
he hawks about from sunrise until dark.
and it has been my observation that
when he does so he rests during the
night.
Occasionally the night-hawk comes
out in broad sunlight, and thu further
cohfuses the searcher into his habits. /
remember on one occasion, when hunt
ing in the meadows late in the summer
with n friend, seeing 4 cloud of these
birds rise from the side of Mount Hol-
yoke. as if at a prearranged signal, and
cross the river toward us. We had
never seen night-hawks in flock before,
and stood and watched them with great
interest. There must have been a
couple of thousand in the company. and
on reaching the meadows they spread
Out and CHARTERED over the ground at a
height Of about ten feet. catching up
the insects that rose from the clover.
The a was led by the Older birds. a
We discovered by observing on their
tails the White band which marks the
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
ence, and we. p~erceiying IN uneyampled