1 82 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



name would indicate, is a bird of the night. It is neither a hawk 

 nor a bird of the night, but rather a bird of the late afternoon 

 and dusk and the early dawn of morning, and of cloudy days. 

 Its cousins, the chuck-will's-widow and the whip-poor-will are 

 strictly nocturnal birds. At Buzzard's Roost as soon as the 

 sun has disappeared behind the western hills, we hear the 

 whip-poor-will, 



"With his music throb and thrill 

 He it is that makes the night 



An enchantment and delight, 



Opening his entrancing tale, 



Where the evening robins fail, 



Ending the victorious strain 



When the robins sing again." 



The nighthawk is known by the other names of bull bat, 

 and mosquito hawk. Apparently it is more than a medium 

 sized bird, but in fact its body is very small. The night hawk 

 and whip-poor-will look much alike and many people think 

 they are the same. The first, however, has a white throat in- 

 stead of a narrow white line on a black throat and in the day 

 shows the white bands or stars in its crescent wings. The lat- 

 ter fact inspired my friend, Mrs. Jane L. Hine, who is a close 

 student and lover of the birds, under the title "The Stars in 

 the Night Hawk's Wings," to write the following poem : 



"The night is approaching, 



The sun is near setting 

 And night hawks, that hunger has called from their roost, 



Above us are soaring 



And hungrily gleaning, 

 From pastures that lie on the sky's azure breast." 



"Now, straight upward looking 



On birds that are passing, 

 We see a unique and most beautiful thing; 



Each night hawk in sailing 



Reveals that it's wearing 

 A pair of bright stars, one in each dusky wing." 



The adult male nighthawk has a large flat head with a 

 very small curved bill which is hooked at the tip and of a black 

 color ; mouth extremely large and without bristles ; eye large 

 and full and of a deep bluish black ; neck short and body slen- 



