A name applied to several birds.
1781. The Whipperwill has so named itself by its nocturnal songs. It is also called the pope, by reason of its darting with great swiftness, from the clouds almost to the ground, and bawling out Pope! which alarms young people and the fanatics very much, especially as they know it to be an ominous bird.—Samuel Peters, ‘History of Connecticut,’ p. 257 (Lond.). (N.E.D.)
