Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-02-28


One Of the pleassntest facts about
the study Of oird life Is that there is al.
most never time when something OF
| interest IL not going on. II It rains 50
violently that enc does not care to vent
ure out of doors, he fl,ey yet look from
his window and see the birds busy IN
the trees or upon the grass. Even a.
NIGHT have gone out to discover what
| il was that set the black-b billed cuckoo
accomplishing to the darkness, anu
caused the homely hair-bird or chip
ping-sparrow to utter his plain, YET
musical, trill under the silent stars. On
the sides of the mountains hereabouts.
on warm, moonlight summer niSh's'
one who will take the trouble to tramp
through some very uncomfortable ter
ritory, encountered by rocks and over
grown with young. but vigorous, bushes,
NAV find himself in the midst Of very
lively community. Here those welrd
and ghosty birds, the whippeorwilis.
swarm in great numbers, huggIng all
day the leaf-strewn ground, which their
plumaee so closely initiates that they
seem part of the earth itself. and at
night waking into q 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-
gregations of these night birds. almost
stepping upon them before they would
fly. and then seeing them rise at my
feet and tlutter away as noiselessly as
owls, or as if they were dry leaves
urged onward by the wind.
But for the silence of their fight they
might be mistaken Tor woOdcOcks. and
are quite ~ feet; yet they are reluc-
tant to dy far, and soon alight upon
some branch, which they always strike
upon at right angles, like other birds,
but Immediately turn and rest upon 1t
lengthwise. This peculiarly they share
with their cousins. the night-hawks:
The two varieties are often considered
identical by rustic obser, IS hereabOuts,
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 rudimentary, and
an inheritance from many generations
of earth-squatting ancestors. The
proper place of the whippoorwill and
night-hawk is upon the ground, rock,
or some other broad, flat 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 whippoorwilrs eye is quite express
sionless. 1t shows no noticeable distinc-
ton between pupil and iris, and, like
that of all purely nocturnal birds. it is
constructed for the adm sion of all the
light that can possibly be obtained.
There is something very impressive
in this stolid and unvarying stare Of
the night birds. l have seen nearly
every emotion in the eyes of my feath-
cred friends of the day, but those Of the
night invariably hold mask before
any feelings they may experience. But
to return to the whippoorwills. At
night the dusky thickets in which they
swarm become singularly animated.
The strange song resounds on every
side, and those who have heard it only
at distance can have no idea of the
tremendous volume of it when it is ut
tered close at hand. 1t seems impOssl-
bic that one bird could make such a
racket, and when twenty are at it at
once the resultant uproar strangely at
fects the nerves with its eerie and al
most abolical quality. During the ut
terance of the song the birds are at rest.
either upon some rock or low bush, and
at its conclusion they dart rap dly about.
Selling upon the insects, chiefly the
night-Hying coleOpter;e and lepidOptere,
which form their food.
They are astonishinyly swift in their
movements. and their flight, half seen
in the moonlight as it sits through the
trees. is exceedingly graceful, pictur-
esJuesness being lent to it by rapid
openings and shuttings of the fan-like
tails, the broad white patches on each
side of which become at such times very
conspicuous objects. have sometimes
shot these birds simply upon the disclos-
ure of their whereabouts that was made
by this quick display of white feathers,
but should not like to mention the
quantity of ammunit on that was wasted
before this result was accomplished.
The night-hawk is not so purely 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
falls through the air to capture an in
sect far below him. 1t is like the noise
produced by blowing into the bunghole
of 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. l do 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 the night-hawk comes
out in broad sunlight. and thus further
cOhfuses the searcher into his habits.
remember on one occasion, when hunt
ing in the meadows late in the summer
with friend, seeing a cloud of these
birds rise from the side of Mount HOl-
yoke, as if at 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 q
couple of thousand in the company. and
on reaching the meadows they spread
out and quartered over the ground at a
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 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