BIRDS. 



539 



nature. Yet why they should be thus maligned is a question no one has yet 

 answered. If a whippoorwill but sound the notes which give it its name 

 upon the door-sill of a house, one of its inmates is soon to die a sudden 

 death. The voice of the night-hawk has the same evil portent ; while the 

 white spots upon its wings are firmly asserted to be silver dollars. The 

 goat-sucker, too, derives its name from a belief that it sucks the milk of 

 goats and cows. " Poor little injured bird of night," says Waterton, " how 

 sadly hast thou suffered, and how foul a stain has inattention to facts put 

 upon thy character ! Thou hast never robbed man of any part of his 

 property, nor deprived the kid of a drop of milk." This goat-sucking 

 belief has, however, an explanation. As the shades of evening fall, the 



Fig. 444. — Night-hawk {Chordeilesviryinianus). 



goat-sucker flies around the herd, jumping every now and then up to their 

 bellies. It is not milk that it is after, but the insects that are tormenting 

 the flock. 



This subject of superstitions connected with birds is a large and inter- 

 esting one. So cpieer are some of the beliefs that it seems almost impos- 

 sible to trace them to their source, while others are as easily explained as 

 is the goat-sucking propensity of the bird just named. Here is a splendid 

 chance for some Max Miiller or Grimm to work out the origin of a wonder- 

 ful folk-lore. But the study will have one aggravation ; for the investiga- 

 tor will find that people, apparently well informed, stick with the greatest 

 pertinacity to their beliefs, and will stoutly affirm that they have seen the 

 swallows dive beneath the surface of the pond in the fall, and emerge 



