Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-12

WILL" uttered so plainly that I at first
thought it was some person, but Aunt
Patty, who was spinning fax out in the
grassy yard, said it was the whip-poor-will,
and told me much about this interesting
bird; of how plentiful they were when she
was child and lived with her parents and
brothers in the dense woods of Eastern
Ohio, and of how frightened she and her
little brother Will-my father-were one
evening on being left alone and first hear
ing the whip-poor-wills.
The Forest Full Of Spirits.
First, one began his mournful cry, and
was answered by another farther off, and
then another, until the whole forest seemed
to be full of spirits, all insisting that viii
must be whipped. Wilson says, "his notes
seem pretty plainly to articulate the words
whip-poor-Will, the first and last syllables
being uttered with great emphasis, and the
whole in about a second to each repetition;
but when two or more males meet their
whip-poor-will alterations become much
more rapid, as if each were straining to
overpoWer or silence the other"
Someone, speaking of the cry Of the whip
poor-wiIl, says: ''If not most musical its
notes are, certainly, most melancholy to
stranger, and forcibly lay hold of the imag-
ination. It seems as though they came
from some intelligent, conseience-stricken
and self-tormented spirit, seeking rest and
finding none; craving chastisement in order
to relieve itself of some transgression. The
effect is heightened by the obscurity courted
by the bird; for, though the sound appears
as If it were at ones very threshold, it
comes from a carefully concealed object
nesting on the ground beneath some bush,
and may be called the voice of the sad un-
known"
The Birds Peculiar Habits.
They are good friends to the farmer and
should be protected, as they feed entirely
on large night-fying insects, such as moths
and beetles. They swallow their prey, the
tail foremost, even the largest moths, and
when swallowed the wings and legs are
found closely laid together as if glued by
the saliva of the bird. Their flight is very
low, swift and noiseless as they move along
in search of their food, and, unlike the
night hawk-which they very much resem-
are never found in focks, but go
singly or in pairs.
It is seldom seen or heard in daylight,
unless disturbed in state of repose, when
it flies off short distance. During the day
it sleeps either on the ground or on the
fallen trunk of tree, and is never known
to alight across branch or trunk, but always
sits with Its body parallel to the limb on
which it is sitting. On bright days ID
sleeps very soundly, especially about noon;
but in rainy or cloudy weather it sleeps less
and Is more alert.
The whip-poor-will builds no nest, but
lays its eggs, mostly two in number, in q
slight hollow which it scratches in the
ground, usually near q rock or a fallen
trunk The eggs are beautiful, being of an
form, of delicate creamy white,
with lines and spots of light brown and
lavender. The young are soon able to walk
and in few days can run with speed, and
they hide with such cunning that it is very
hard to find them. The female, when her
young are discovered, suddenly throws her
self before the intruder and makes believe
to be lame, and she does it so well that, un-
less one is well acquainted with her habits,
be will be misled into following her.
By the middle of September they leave
for the South, the old males staying few
lays longer, uttering their cry occasionally,
put always in the woods or some place far
rom the house.
AReIative That Is Larger.
4 Aspeoies of larger size is called chuck.
from its equally odd and
lfecting call, uttered in a fuller, slower and
ouder tone than the cry of the whip-poor-
will. They are found in great numbers In
he woods and solitary glens OF the Mlssis-
tppi and Missouri, going south about the
9th Of August. 1t, too, is silent by day,
,ut commences itscry soon after sunset, and
t is continued, with great frequency, on
moonlight nights, and repeated after ces-
alton before dawn.
The North American Indians have
radition of great massacre of the red men
" the whites, and regard the whip-poor-
viii as uttering the complaints of their de-
'arted ancestors.
One writer gives his quaint ideas of the
in these words: "And
low, as fades the glimmering landscape on
he sight, the whip-poor-will takes up the
heme, singing sadly yet sweetly, all the
egends of the forest. The bird is to the
uperstitious rustic all that is weird and
Mysterious. fancy, as hear them sing
ng in the dark and quiet woods, that every
was once fair and pious
un, singing her whole life sweet hymns
mid the quiet cloisters, and praying that
II her sins and all the worlds may be for
iven. Sing on, sweet birds, attune your
oices in purest melody. The hour is all
our own" AUNT CLARE.