The Whip-poor-will
In old New England, a whip-poor-will calling close to a house at night meant someone inside would soon die. Some said the birds waited to catch the soul.
What was reported
The eastern whip-poor-will is a nightjar of North American woods, whose call, repeated tirelessly through the night, sounds like its name. People in rural New England believed it was an omen of death if one sang near the house, or on the roof.
The writer H.P. Lovecraft used the belief in his 1929 story The Dunwich Horror, where flocks of whip-poor-wills gather around dying people, singing in time with their breath, to catch their souls as they leave.
Explanations offered
Whip-poor-wills sing most on moonlit nights in spring and summer, and they're often heard close to houses at the edge of woods. Their numbers have fallen sharply, and many people now never hear them.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Western Massachusetts, USA
- Witnesses
- New England folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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