198 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
— nothing less than sickness, misfortune, or death to 
some of its members. These visits, however, so often 
occur without any bad consequences that this super- 
stitious dread seems on the decline/ 
“ The whip-poor-will is about the size of the night- 
hawk, and is distinguished by ‘ an extravagantly large 
mouth/ although it seems to take in nothing larger 
than moths, grasshoppers, ants, and such insects as 
frequent the bark of old rotten and decaying timber. 
It is also expert in darting after winged insects. 
“ The eggs of this bird are deposited on the ground, 
after the manner of the night-hawk, without the 
slightest appearance of a nest being visible. There 
are two, shaped like those of the night-hawk, but 
darker in color and more thickly marbled with olive. 
“ Some one says : ‘ In traversing the woods one day 
in the early part of June, along the brow of a rocky 
declivity, a whip-poor-will rose from my feet and 
fluttered along, sometimes prostrating herself, and 
beating the ground with her wings as if just expir- 
ing. Aware of her purpose, I stood still and began 
to examine the space immediately around me for the 
eggs or young, one or other of which I was certain 
must be near. After a long search I could find 
neither, and was just going to abandon the spot when 
I perceived somewhat like a slight mouldiness among 
the withered leaves, and on stooping down discovered 
