The Birds and Poets 141 



abouts of the scattered company, and if undisturbed 

 will soon get together again. Riley refers to this 

 call of bobwhite : 



"Watch * * * 



the bobwhites raise and whiz 

 Where some other's whistle is." 



The same poet, with a native accuracy all his 

 own, describes the peculiar flight of the bird: 



"And the sudden whir and whistle 

 Of the quail that, like a missile, 

 Whizzes over thorn and thistle, 

 And, a missile, drops again." 



The whippoorwill, another favorite of the poets, 

 is heard sometimes as late as September, although 

 he is more vocal in June and July. He reserves 

 his musical performances for the quiet of the 

 night, and spends his days in bat-like seclusion, 

 perched, unlike other birds, along, and not across, 

 a limb or fence rail. It cannot be properly said 

 that he perches at all, because he merely squats 

 down flat upon his daylight rest, sleepily awaiting 

 the soft rays of the moon to awake him to vocal 

 ecstasies. If aroused from his nap during the day 

 he awkwardly flops about through the trees and 

 brush, and suddenly drops down among the leaves 

 or dead logs, where the similarity of his dull 

 plumage affords him ample protection from his 

 enemies. 



