3 io THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
These silly superstitions were perpetuated by numerous stories, related by 
persons who pretended to be eye-witnesses of the birds’ milk-loving propen¬ 
sities. But these accusations were not the most serious that were urged against 
the night swallows, since they were thought to be winged messengers of an 
evil power, or possibly wandering souls going about under the cover of darkness 
to discharge some envious commission. The' whip-poor-will , which belongs to 
this species, is even 
to this day regarded 
as a bird of evil 
omen, the wandering 
shade of some soul 
that is permitted to 
make fitful visits 
from its Plutonian 
abode. This belief 
is more general than 
it would, perhaps, 
otherwise be on ac¬ 
count of the rarity 
with which the bird 
is seen. Its voice is 
commonly heard 
during the still 
summer nights, but 
though its notes are 
so well known as to 
make the bird 
familiar to people of 
all North America, 
yet in fact not one 
person in a thou¬ 
sand, probably, ever 
caught so much as 
a glimpse of the 
creature. For this 
reason many super- 
stitious persons 
regard the bird as a 
spirit. 
I have myself 
sought this creature 
with great diligence, 
creeping with all 
possible care towards the spot from whence its voice seemed to proceed, but 
except upon two occasions I was always unable to gain a view of it. The 
bird is both cunning and wary, leaving its perch so quietly, and usually haunt¬ 
ing such dense coverts, that the most acute vision is required to perceive it. 
The bull bat , or night swallow , is also rarely seen except when in pursuit of 
insects. When at rest it sits so closely upon a limb as to be almost invisible. 
-- - ... . 
