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Whip-poor-will
Adult male--The general colour is a mixture of rich browns, buff, gray, and black, with a white or whitish band below the throat, and white ends to the three outer tail feathers; mouth very large, with bristles at base of bill. The middle toe is toothed on the inner side.
Adult female--Has the white replaced by cream colour. Length--9.75.
Breeding Range--Throughout the northeastern States.
The eggs are laid on the ground, generally among dry leaves, with no pretence of a nest. The ground colour is creamy white or grayish, with dark or very faint lilac and brown markings and spots; only two eggs are laid. Size--1.18 x .84.
There are few common eggs more difficult to find than those of the Whip-poor-will. The bird matches to perfection, both in colour and marking, the surroundings chosen for the nesting, or I should perhaps say the ground on which the eggs are deposited, there being no nest. The eggs also are decidedly inconspicuous. The place generally chosen is in the dark woods, where the ground is thickly strewn with dead leaves. The birds look like large bats or moths as they glide away in noiseless flight among the trees, to perch lengthways on a horizontal branch, becoming, to all appearance, part of the bark. In order to find the eggs, it is advisable to use a dog; otherwise it is a most discouraging task. As the birds remove the eggs if they have been handled, it is as well to secure them at the time of finding, as otherwise they may have disappeared when the place is revisited. The young are said to "run about much like young partridge."
In New Jersey the eggs are deposited about June 1st.