THE TOWN OF NORTH CASTLE. 721 



Wo I to the night moth that flits in my way, 

 Wo ! to the tribes in the still air that play, 

 Wo ! to the wretch in the night dew that sings, 

 For the death spirit waits on the rush of my wings ; 

 High and low, swift and slow, through the shadow I fly, 

 While the wolf's in her track, and the owl hooteth nigh ; 

 When the moon from her cloud-cinctured car brightly gleams, 

 And starts the shades with her tremulous beams. 

 Then loud in the night winds I pour my wild song, 

 Whip-poor-will, Whip-poor-will, through the mists rolling gray, 

 And the tremulous moon-beams on high wings I play. 



Now the owl to the gloom of the forest has flown, 



And the deer to her covert hath stealthily gone ; 



The lone prowling wolf to his lair is returning, 



For night's shadows are lost in the blush of the morning, 



Now swift to my dark home I'll silently fly 



And close on the daylight my broad, gleaming eye. 



— Knickerbocker* Magazine. 



Whip-poor-will Hill is very high, and contains much arable land, espe- 

 cially adapted for pasturage. With the exception of Prospect Hill, it over- 

 tops all others in the neighborhood. In this vicinity is Wampus Pond, 11 

 whence issues a tributary to the Byram River, as mentioned in the de- 

 scription of New Castle. Byram Lake lies in the north-east part of the 

 town towards Bedford, not far from the village of North Castle. This lake 

 is fed by numerous springs from the Cohamong or Armonck hills, which 

 border it on the east. The north-western shore is bounded by steep, 

 rocky acclivities, covered with woods. & It is an extensive and beautiful 

 sheet of water, constituting the head of Byram (Armonck) River, which 

 waters the southern part of the town. The lake abounds with pickerel, 

 which were introduced here from the western lakes by a number of en- 

 terprising gentlemen in the neighborhood." 



On the eastern shore of the lake is situated the estate and residence 

 of the late Samuel Lyon, Esq., whose family have been long settled in 

 this part of the town. 



In 1772, Roger Lyon of North Castle held a captain's commission in 

 the middle battalion of the Westchester militia. At one period of the 

 Revolution, this gentleman had the honor of entertaining General Wash- 

 ington and suite on their route to White Plains. It is related by his 

 grand-son that during the entertainment, Captain Lyon being blind, 



a It is said that clowder fish were very abundant in this pond prior to the introduction of 

 pickerel. ._.•.,".«,:- 



b A fine specimen of the white-headed or bald eagle (Falco Leucocephalus) was shot on the 

 shores of the lake in 1S40. 



c Messrs. Hunt, Lyon, Carpenter and Tripp. 



