466 
GOATSUCKERS. 
where throughout the evening its echoing notes are heard in 
the solitary glens and from the surrounding and silent hills, 
becoming almost incessant during the shining of the moon; 
and at the boding sound of its elfin voice, when familiar and 
strongly reiterated, the thoughtful, superstitious savage becomes 
sad and pensive. "Its flight is low, and it skims only a few feet 
above the surface of the ground, frequently settling on logs 
and fences, whence it often sweeps around in pursuit of flying 
moths and insects, which constitute its food. Sometimes these 
birds are seen sailing near the ground, and occasionally descend 
to pick up a beetle, or flutter lightly around the trunk of a tree 
in quest of some insect crawling upon the bark. In rainy and 
gloomy weather they remain silent in the hollow log which 
affords them and the bats a common roost and refuge by day. 
When discovered in this critical situation, and without the 
means of escape, they ruffle up their feathers, spread open 
their enormous mouths, and utter a murmur almost like the 
hissing of a snake, thus endeavoring, apparently, to intimidate 
their enemy when cut off from the means of escape. 
This species also lays its eggs, two in number, merely on the 
ground, and usually in the woods ; if they be handled, or even 
the young, the parents, suspicious of danger, remove them to 
some other place. As early as the middle of August, accord- 
ing to Audubon, these birds retire from the United States; 
though some winter in the central parts of East Florida. 
The general habitat of this species is the South Atlantic and 
Gulf States and the lower Mississippi valley. The bird ranges to 
North Carolina, and Mr. Ridgeway reports it not uncommon in 
southern Illinois. 
