. Bird-land echoes; . s never realized,—and I feel thewarmth of June, though standing in the sunshineof January. Birds, like bird-songs, should be valuedfor their suggestiveness rather than for any intrinsicmerit. While wasting time one pleasant May morningwith men who dabble in archaeology, and lookingfor traces of Indians that, when found, could notpossibly tell us anything new about these people, Iwas startled by a whir and flapping of wings thatseemed directed towards me. I looked around in adazed way, but could see nothing, and then again 124 Bird-Land Echoes. came the whir and shadow of
. Bird-land echoes; . s never realized,—and I feel thewarmth of June, though standing in the sunshineof January. Birds, like bird-songs, should be valuedfor their suggestiveness rather than for any intrinsicmerit. While wasting time one pleasant May morningwith men who dabble in archaeology, and lookingfor traces of Indians that, when found, could notpossibly tell us anything new about these people, Iwas startled by a whir and flapping of wings thatseemed directed towards me. I looked around in adazed way, but could see nothing, and then again 124 Bird-Land Echoes. came the whir and shadow of wings in my face. Itwas a night-hawk, and I had either stepped upon orwas veiy near the birds eggs. I stood perfectly stilland examined every square inch of ground near me,hoping to prove the excellence of my eyesight bydiscovering the eggs. The archaeologists approached,attracted by my statue-like pose, but I motioned tothem to keep away. They could not see the night-hawk, and concluded that I was crazy, but I kept. Night-hawk. them off until I gave up searching for the eggs. Ina fit? called one of them. All this time the night-hawk was almost striking me in the face, and yetneither of them saw the bird. Sharp-sighted men,observing men, who complain that they cannot findstone axes in a gravel bed. Later I searched theground—a stony field—with the greatest care, andat last succeeded. What puzzles me now is how the Professional and Amateur. 125 bird ever found her nest after once leaving it Whateyesight a night-hawk must have to distinguish itseggs, in this case as a single pebble among ten thou-sand ! To my eyes there was nothing approaching alandmark near the spot that, by reason of the eggspresence, might be called a nest. Unlike the whippoorwill, I do not associate night-hawks with spring or even early summer, at whichtimes they have never been prominent features of thelandscape ; but during August, and from that monthuntil frosty weather, they are the birds of the glo
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1896
