Part 27

The Whip-poor-will is never seen flying high in the sky, and the absence of white spots in the wings always distinguishes it from the Nighthawk. To find the Whip-poor-will one must go to the deep woods where, in a quiet tangle of ferns and bushes, a dark brown, silent-winged creature may fly from the leaves, to flutter a few rods farther on, and drop again to the ground. The well-known song which is given with such constancy and fervor on spring and summer nights may be written chuck, whip-poor-wee-ah, chuck, whip-poor-wee-ah. Sometimes the song is repeated two hundred times or more without cessation.

NIGHTHAWK Chordeiles minor minor (J. R. Forster)

Other Names.—Bull-Bat; Whip-poor-will (erroneous); Goatsucker; Night Jar; Mosquito Hawk.

Description.—Mouth without prominent bristles protruding in front of short bill; wings long and pointed; tail forked. Male: Upperparts black, barred and variously marked with whitish, gray, buffy, and cream-color, the flight-feathers blackish, the middle of the primaries marked with a prominent bar of white which is especially noticeable from below, in flight; tail with a white bar across all but the middle feathers; throat marked with a prominent white patch; chin and upper throat black, the feathers tipped with buffy; underparts whitish, regularly and heavily barred with blackish. Female: Similar, but lacks the white on tail, the throat-patch is buffy, and the underparts are buffy barred with blackish. Length: 10 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A common migrant, but very local summer resident from the first week of May to mid-September; during the fall migration it is likely to occur in large flocks.

Nest.—None. Eggs: 2, white, heavily spotted with gray, placed on the ground, in the open, not, as a rule, in woods.

The Nighthawk is a familiar bird of summer evenings, when even over the cities it circles back and forth, calling as it hunts its insect food, pee-ah, pee-ah, in a rough, grating voice. In spring it courts its mate by plunging rapidly downward on set wings, producing with the vibrating primaries a booming sound which has given the bird the nickname “Bull-Bat.” It is one of our most beneficial birds. During the day it sleeps or rests on the ground, or sits lengthwise on a horizontal branch. It has recently taken to laying its eggs on gravel-roofed buildings in the city. Young Nighthawks, equipped as they are with strong feet, can run nimbly. The parents, though able to fly well, have lost much of the power of their foot-muscles and can scarcely walk.

CHIMNEY SWIFT Chætura pelagica (Linnæus)

Other Name.—Chimney Swallow (erroneous).

Description.—Wings very long; bill and feet very small; tail of stiff feathers, all with noticeable spines at tip; sexes alike. Plumage brownish black, grayer on the throat, a deep black spot in front of eye; a ridge of feathers over the eye, forming a sort of brow. Length: 5½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A common migrant and summer resident from about the middle of April to October. It is widely distributed and occurs in all towns.

Nest.—A shallow, basket-like structure of small twigs glued together with saliva from the bird’s mouth and fastened to the bricks on the inside of a chimney, or rarely on boards on the inside of a barn, or in a hollow tree. The nest has no lining. Nests built in a chimney are usually placed well down from the top. Eggs: 4 to 6, white.

The familiar Chimney Swift, with its cheerful chittering cries and its rapid “bow and arrow” flight, is a common bird in all Pennsylvania towns. In the wilder sections—in the mountains, for instance—it is rare. It has come to depend upon chimneys almost exclusively as nesting-sites. This is a valuable bird, eating only flying insects, which it captures from the air.

It alights nowhere save inside the chimney, where it clings to the rough bricks with its exceedingly strong and sharply clawed feet, using its spiny tail as a prop. In securing nesting material it breaks dead twigs off with its feet while flying, lifting these to its mouth while in the air, there to cover them with saliva.

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD Archilochus colubris (Linnæus)

Other Names.—Hummer; Ruby-throat.

Description.—Our smallest bird; bill about twice as long as head; feet small, with downy plumage at base; wings with comparatively short bones, but with powerful muscles; tail-feathers pointed in male, rounded in female. Adult male: Upperparts glossy, bright green; wings and tail with steel-blue or violet reflections; throat gorgeous orange-red in proper lights, velvety black from some angles; breast with noticeable white patch; rest of underparts grayish, glossed with green on sides; tail forked. Female: Similar, but with almost pure white underparts and no ruby throat-patch; tail somewhat rounded, with three outer tail-feathers tipped with white. Immature: Similar to female, the male having its throat streaked with dusky and sprinkled with occasional ruby feathers. Length: 3¾ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A common migrant and summer resident from May 1 to October 1 and sometimes later.

Nest.—A small, dainty structure made of plant-down, lichens, and cobwebs, saddled to a horizontal, and often dead, branch, from 10 to 60 feet from the ground, in an orchard, yard, or woodland. Eggs: 2, plain white.

The rapid, buzzing flight of these birds as they wander about the cannas, honeysuckles, or nasturtiums, fanning the leaves and petals with their shining wings as they search for nectar and tiny insects, is known to all who have a flower-garden. The Hummingbird should not be confused with the hawk-moth or sphinx-moth which come out at about the same time in the evening and which have much the appearance of tiny birds as they buzz among the flowers.

KINGBIRD Tyrannus tyrannus tyrannus (Linnæus)

Other Names.—Bee Bird; Bee Martin; Tyrant Flycatcher.

Description.—Smaller than a Robin, with upright attitude in perching; sexes alike. Upperparts dark gray, darkest on head, wings, and tail; crown with concealed patch of orange-red; wing-coverts edged with lighter gray; tip of tail white; underparts pure white, washed with grayish on throat and breast; eyes dark brown. Young birds are similar, but lack the crown-patch, are duller in appearance, and the plumage is often more or less tinged with buff. Length: 8½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A migrant and summer resident, common in the agricultural districts, rather rare in forested districts, from mid-April to mid-September.

Nest.—Well constructed, of dead weed-stalks, string, and plant-fibers, lined with softer materials, placed from 4 to 30 feet from the ground, in alders, orchard, or other trees, usually in a crotch of several branches, and well toward the end of the branch. Eggs: 4, sometimes 3 or 5, white, spotted with dark brown.

The Kingbird is often to be seen on a barbed-wire fence, telegraph-wire, or prominent dead stub where he watches for passing insects or for hawks or Crows, which he chases with energy and effect. As he flies, his wings beat rapidly with a fluttering motion, and the white tip of his widely spread tail shows plainly at considerable distance. His challenge note, which may be written pi-tink, pi-tink, irregularly repeated, is the only outcry usually heard, though he occasionally indulges in a softer effort which may be called a song. If a small pebble is tossed at him in play, he watches it carefully in a curiously puzzled fashion, as though he were at the point of capturing and swallowing it. He has some difficulty in tiring and capturing insects as large as a dragon-fly, but he is very fond of these strong-winged insects, and pursues them assiduously. Rarely he captures bees, and these are usually drones.

He is at his best when he chases a hawk, owl, or Crow. At such times his anger mounts and he gives battle with all the fury of his small body thrown into the noisy and vicious attack. So determined a combatant is he that he sometimes actually alights on his larger, more awkward enemy, picking at the plumage, and perhaps at the skull and eyes.

CRESTED FLYCATCHER Myiarchus crinitus boreus Bangs