CHUCK- WILL’S- WIDOW. 
299 
occasional interruptions, for several hours. Towards morning 
these repetitions are renewed, and continue until dawn has 
fairly appeared. During the day it is altogether silent. This 
note, or call, instantly attracts the attention of a stranger, and 
is strikingly different from that of the Whip-poor-will. In 
sound and articulation it seems plainly to express the words 
which have been applied to it, (Chuck-will’ s-widow,) pro- 
nouncing each syllable leisurely and distinctly, putting the 
principal emphasis on the last word. In a still evening it may 
be heard at the distance of nearly a mile, the tones of its voice 
being stronger and more full than those of the Whip-poor- 
will, who utters his with much greater rapidity. In the 
Chickasaw country, and throughout the whole Mississippi 
territory, I found the present species very numerous in the 
months of April and May, keeping up a continual noise 
during the whole evening, and, in moonlight, throughout the 
whole of the night. 
The flight of this bird is low, skimming about at a few feet 
above the surface of the ground, frequently settling on old 
logs, or on the fences, and from thence sweeping around, in 
pursuit of various winged insects that fly in the night. Like 
the Whip-poor-will, it prefers the declivities of glens and 
other deeply shaded places, making the surrounding mountains 
ring with echoes the whole evening. I several times called 
the attention of the Chickasaws to the notes of this bird, on 
which occasions they always assumed a grave and thoughtful 
aspect ; but it appeared to me that they made no distinction 
between the two species ; so that whatever superstitious 
notions they may entertain of the one, are probably applied to 
the other. 
This singular genus of birds, formed to subsist on the 
superabundance of nocturnal insects, are exactly and sur- 
prisingly fitted for their peculiar mode of life. Their flight is 
low, to accommodate itself to their prey ; silent, that they may 
be the better concealed, and sweep upon it unawares ; their 
sight, most acute in the dusk, when such insects are abroad ; 
their evolutions, something like those of the bat, quick and 
