WHIP-POOR-WILL. 379 
with which you converse; scarcely two of them will tell you the 
same story. It is easy, however, to observe, that this, like the Owl, 
and other nocturnal birds, is held by them in a kind of suspicious awe, 
as a bird with which they wish to have as little to do as possible. 
The superstition of the Indian differs very little from that of an illit- 
erate German, or Scots Highlander, or the less informed of any other 
nation. It suggests ten thousand fantastic notions to each, and these, 
instead of being recorded with all the punctilio of the most important 
truths, seem only fit to be forgotten. Whatever, among either of 
these people, is strange and not comprehended, is usually attributed 
to supernatural agency; and an unexpected sight, or uncommon inci- 
dent, is often ominous of good, but more generally of bad, fortune to 
the parties. Night, to minds of this complexion, brings with it its 
kindred horrors, its apparitions, strange sounds, and awful sights; and 
this solitary and inoffensive bird, being a frequent wanderer in these 
hours of ghosts and hobgoblins, is considered by the Indians as being, 
by habit and repute, little better than one of them. All these people, 
however, are not so credulous: | have conversed with Indians who 
treated these silly notions with contempt. 3 
‘The Whip-poor-will is never seen during the day, unless in cir- 
cumstances such as have been described. Their food appears to be 
. large moths, grasshoppers, pismires, and such insects as frequent the 
bark of old rotten and decaying timber. They are also expert in 
darting after winged insects. ‘They will sometimes skim in the dusk, 
within a few feet of a person, uttering a kind of low chatter as they 
pass. In their migrations north, and on their return, they probably 
stop a day or two at some of their former stages, and do not advance 
in one continued flight. The Whip-poor-will was first heard this 
season [1811] on thé 2d day of May, ina corner of Mr. Bartram’s 
woods, not far from the house, and for two or three mornings after in 
the same place, where I also saw it. From this time until the begin- 
ning of September, there were none of these birds to be found within 
at least one mile of the place; though I frequently made search for 
them. On the 4th of September, the Whip-poor-will was again 
heard for two evenings, successively, in the same part of the woods. 
I also heard several of them passing, within the same week, between 
dusk and nine o’clock at night, it being then clear moonlight. These 
repeated their notes three or four times, and were heard no more. It 
is highly probable that they migrate during the evening and night. 
The Whip-poor-will is nine inches and a half long, and nineteen 
inches in extent; the bill is blackish, a full quarter of an inch long, 
much stronger than that of the Night Hawk, and bent a little at the 
point, the under mandible arched a little upwards, following the curva- 
ture of the upper; the nostrils are prominent and tubular, their open- 
ings directed forward; the mouth is extravagantly large, of a pale 
flesh color within, and beset along the sides with a number of long, 
thick, elastic bristles, the longest of which extends more than half an 
inch beyond the point of the bill, end in fine hair, and curvé inwards ; 
these seem to serve as feelers, and prevent the escape of winged 
insects ; the eyes are very large, full, and bluish black; the plumage 
#bove is so variegated with black, pale cream, brown, and rust color, 
sprinkled and powdered in such minute streaks and spots, as to defy 
a 
