chuck-will's-widow

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

The common name of a bird of a bird of the whippoorwill family (capimulgus Caroniensis). Mr. Audubon says, "About the middle of March, the forests of Louisiana are heard to echo with the well-known notes of this interesting bird. No sooner has the sun disappeared, and the nocturnal insects emerge from their burrows, than the sound 'Chuck-Will's-widow,' repeated with great clearness and power, six or seven times in as many seconds, strike the ear."--Ornithology, Vol. I. p. 273.

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