The Burgess Bird Book for ChildrenBurgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
General
The Burgess Bird Book for Children
Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
Birds -- Juvenile literature
Peter tipped his head 'way back. High up in the blue, blue sky was
a bird which at that distance looked something like a much overgrown
Swallow. He was circling and darting about this way and that. Even while
Peter watched he half closed his wings and shot down with such speed
that Peter actually held his breath. It looked very, very much as if
Boomer would dash himself to pieces. Just before he reached the earth he
suddenly opened those wings and turned upward. At the instant he turned,
the booming sound which had so startled Peter was heard. It was made by
the rushing of the wind through the larger feathers of his wings as he
checked himself.
In this dive Boomer had come near enough for Peter to get a good look
at him. His coat seemed to be a mixture of brown and gray, very soft
looking. His wings were brown with a patch of white on each. There was a
white patch on his throat and a band of white near the end of his tail.
“He's rather handsome, don't you think?” asked Jenny Wren.
“He certainly is,” replied Peter. “Do you happen to know what kind of a
nest the Nighthawks build, Jenny?”
“They don't build any.” Jenny Wren was a picture of scorn as she said
this. “They don't built any nests at all. It can't be because they are
lazy for I don't know of any birds that hunt harder for their living
than do Boomer and Mrs. Boomer.”
“But if there isn't any nest where does Mrs. Boomer lay her eggs?” cried
Peter. “I think you must be mistaken, Jenny Wren. They must have some
kind of a nest. Of course they must.”
“Didn't I say they don't have a nest?” sputtered Jenny. “Mrs. Nighthawk
doesn't lay but two eggs, anyway. Perhaps she thinks it isn't worth
while building a nest for just two eggs. Anyway, she lays them on the
ground or on a flat rock and lets it go at that. She isn't quite as bad
as Sally Sly the Cowbird, for she does sit on those eggs and she is a
good mother. But just think of those Nighthawk children never having any
home! It doesn't seem to me right and it never will. Did you ever see
Boomer in a tree?”
Peter shook his head. “I've seen him on the ground,” said he, “but I
never have seen him in a tree. Why did you ask, Jenny Wren?”
“To find out how well you have used your eyes,” snapped Jenny. “I just
wanted to see if you had noticed anything peculiar about the way he sits
in a tree. But as long as you haven't seen him in a tree I may as well
tell you that he doesn't sit as most birds do. He sits lengthwise of a
branch. He never sits across it as the rest of us do.”
“How funny!” exclaimed Peter. “I suppose that is Boomer making that
queer noise we hear.”
“Yes,” replied Jenny. “He certainly does like to use his voice. They
tell me that some folks call him Bullbat, though why they should call
him either Bat or Hawk is beyond me. I suppose you know his cousin,
Whip-poor-will.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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