450 
WHIP-POOR-WILL. 
they wish to have as little to do as possible. The superstition 
of the Indian differs very little from that of an illiterate German, 
a Scots Highlander, or the less informed of any other nation. 
It suggests ten thousand fantastic notions to each, and these, in- 
stead of being recorded with all the punctilio of the most im- 
portant truths, seem only fit to be forgotten. Whatever, among 
either of these people, is strange and not comprehended, is usu- 
ally attributed to supernatural agency; and an unexpected sight, 
or uncommon incident, 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 appari- 
tions, strange sounds and awful sights; and this solitary and in- 
offensive 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 those people, 
however, are not so credulous: I have conversed with Indians 
who treated these silly notions with contempt. 
The Whip-poor-will is never seen during the day, unless in 
circumstances 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 some- 
times 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 on the 
second day of May in a 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 he- 
ninning 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 fourth 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, 
