Roost

“ The usual roosting-places of these birds are among long grass in deserted fields, or dried stalks of corn, amid the stubble, or among the withered foliage of trees. They will return to favourite roosting-grounds from a considerable distance; but though a whole flock often settles in one locality, they seldom roost very near to each other, and if any one approach, even in the darkest night, will at once rise and take flight. ”

“ As she came in sight of the grove she saw a fire, a small fire built to light up the "Rustlers' Roost," as the old limb was called where many a horse and maverick-thief had been stretched by the neck, and she could see the black shadows of men moving back and forth. ”

“ This winter roosting habit of the Crows is well-known, and many roosts have been located, but the habit seems still to lack a satisfactory explanation. Why should these birds fly back and forth every day over miles and miles of country to roost in some definite spot which, so far as we can judge, is no better suited for roosting purposes than hundreds of other places which they pass by? ”

“ At night the Starlings that have kept company with the Rooks and Peewits all day retire to an ivy-clad tree or wall to roost. They may then be found occasionally in numbers up to a hundred or two; but these are only accidental gatherings—very different in character to the big roosts before-mentioned—and the birds do not travel any distance from their feeding-ground; they merely go to roost in the nearest convenient place. ”

“ The hen that sits upon the roost while other hens are out foraging, is probably a drone. The excessively fat or the excessively lean hens are not likely to be layers. It would naturally be supposed that the active laying hen would be the last one to go to roost at night. At the Kansas Experiment Station, the writer made observations upon the order in which the hens went to roost, and the above assumption was found in the majority of cases to be correct. ”

“ Otherwise confiding creatures, Swallows are careful to keep the exact location of their roost as much as possible a secret from the outer world. Neither the persons who live in the neighborhood of the marsh, nor the hunters who desecrate its sanctity, could tell you where - 117 - the Swallows roost. It requires the persistent efforts and full attention of the naturalist to show you where and how his favorite bird goes to rest and how it sets out and enters upon the duties and pleasures of another day. ”

“ Early in the morning, before the rising sun flamed against the eastern windows, an ambitious young rooster, perched on the cultivator outside, gave such a loud, croupy call to the farm-yard that he awakened the little girl. ”

“ Ailing birds that cannot roost seldom have enough vitality to recover.
Roosts two and one-quarter inches wide and not more than an inch thick, with slightly rounded edges favoring the curl of the toes, are satisfactory. They may be arranged horizontally, or slightly inclined, ladder fashion. Light poles cut from young saplings make suitable roosts, if scraped clean of bark and shaved to flatten them slightly on the upper side. Horizontal roosts may be placed about one foot apart, and not more than three49 lying parallel, or the fowls roosting on the rear perch do not get enough air. ”

“ Many of the large roosts farther north in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, seem to be rapidly decreasing in size, owing to thoughtless persecution, and eventually the poor birds may be driven to roost in scattered detachments, as would, indeed, seem best for their preservation ”

“ The majority are rarely seen on the ground, unless they are procuring mud for nidification; but many roost on reeds or in their nests, and just before migration they settle in crowds on branches, fences, wires, and ridges of roofs. ”

“ Just then a daring little white bantam rooster hopped down from his perch, and, strutting pompously over to the big rooster, created quite a stir among the feathered folk by saying,
“We’re all lively enough when our crops are full, but when we’re starving the wonder is that we can hold our heads up at all. If I ever see that farmer’s boy again, I’ll—I’ll peck his foot!” ”

“ In the morning, they rise with one accord from the roosts on which they have been standing all night on one leg, the other drawn up among the feathers of the abdomen, their neck retracted, and their head and bill buried beneath their scapulars. ”

“ Again and again the victorious green and gold rooster jumped upon his prostrate foe, pecking now at his crop, now at his eyes, in a perfect frenzy of triumphant rage, the little white fellow lying so still meanwhile that everyone thought him dead. ”

“ The ordinary rooster did not trouble himself to crow save at midnight and in the morning, but the swart bird of which we speak detected the vaam of any unseen presence, and announced the same by crowing at any hour. ”

“ Upon inquiry here among old residents, I am told that there was quite a large roost on a beech ridge about forty miles west of here, which would be at a point north of the present station of Eckerman. I have been unable to learn just when this roosting place was discontinued, but as near as I can make out from comparing statements and records, it must have been in '78, '79, or '80.
I have heard of a large roosting place in northern Wisconsin which was used as late as 1874 by vast numbers of birds. It was located to the south and a little west of Lac Vieux Desert. ”

“ Many of these roosts extend over more than an hundred acres of land, and it is said, some have been found to exceed a thousand acres. They light upon the trees in such numbers as to fill all the branches, and, by their weight, break off large limbs. Every tree in these extended roosts is killed, and the dung on the ground, which has been found from twelve to eighteen inches deep, destroying every species of vegetation beneath them. ”

“ You see, there were three crows—there was Bill’s crow, and the ventriloquist crow, and the white rooster’s crow— and each rooster thought that there was two roosters in the opposition camp, and that he mightn’t get fair play, and, consequently, both were afraid to put up their hands. ”

“ The bird that is able to fall deepest into the earth shall be your king." [240]
The Rooster had a plan of his own in mind when he said this. As all the birds began to look about for places to jump into deeper places, and the Duck tried to see how long he could hold his head under water, the Rooster called to the Hen. He instructed the Hen to scratch, and when she had made a deep hole, he hid himself in it. ”

“ The lowest roosts may be three feet from the ground, and the highest six feet, that they may easily fly from one to the other; and in this way they may all be approached, to catch the fowls, when required. ”

“ If the Rooster had always obeyed the little Hen he would be alive to this day. But, as I have told you, he was careless and headstrong and often he refused to take the little Hen’s advice.
One day in the spring he ran into the garden and just gorged and gorged on green gooseberries.
“Oh, my dear!” the little Hen cried. “You mustn’t eat green gooseberries! Don’t you know they’ll give you a pain in your stomach!”
But the Rooster wouldn’t listen. He just kept on eating gooseberry after gooseberry until at last he got a terrible pain in his stomach and then he had to stop. ”

“ The flesh ov the rooster is very similar tew the flesh ov the hen; it is hard tew distinguish the diffrence espeshily in yure soup. Roosters are the pugilists amung the domestik burds; they wear the belt, and having no shoulder tew strike from, they strike from the heel. ”

“ They then retire quietly to their roosts in the summits of the tall pines, and are not aroused until daylight streaks the east, when they come forth to feed as before. Thus I have observed them here, but will not say but that at other seasons, and in other situations, their habits may be different. They are now, however, very near the season of breeding, as the organs of the specimens I have examined sufficiently indicate. They appear fond of going in large bodies, and it is rare to see one alone in a tree. ”

“ When actually roosting he is fearless and not easily disturbed. I have thus approached within a few feet of one, and have found that though quite alert and watching my movements closely, yet the relaxed feathers were not drawn close to the body, showing a complete absence of suspicion. ”

“ Rooster.
“There have been many young roosters in the barn-yard, but they have gone away to other farms to live, for the master has an eye for beauty, and he has always decided that I was too—er—valuable to lose.”
Mr. Dog and Mr. Tom Cat smiled a little on the side at this last remark, for they well knew how vain Mr. Rooster was, and then he really did have fine feathers and a beautiful comb.
“I have never had any trouble with my [Pg 186] family until one morning Madam Blackie came running to me,” continued Mr. Rooster, “to tell me a new rooster had come in the barn-yard to live.” ”

“ Roosting Habits of the Starling.—During the past winter countless numbers of Starlings have been roosting every night in a wood on the left bank of the Liffey, about half-way between Lucan and Dublin. On several occasions, a short time before sunset, I have watched flocks arriving from all directions to this roosting-place, and, when several miles away from it, have seen flocks flying towards it. ”

“ I never knew an instance of their roosting in the woods, although they frequently alight on trees, to which they sometimes resort for the purpose of procuring nuts and other fruits. They usually betake themselves at night to high rocks, in situations protected from the northerly winds. ”

“ With young game roosters this is a favorite way to train them to stand up properly and hold their heads up. A piece of raw liver or a cabbage is hung in their cage for them to peck at, and through the constant reaching up they get into the habit of carrying their heads high and haughtily. ”

“ A curious and pretty little desert plant, that looks as if it were trying to protect itself from cold rather than heat, as its pretty foliage and stems seem all made of silvery, gray velvet, forming a symmetrical rosette, dotted with the small, rayless, yellow flower-heads, like fuzzy buttons. ”

“ Around this rosette grows the ring of flowers made up of forty or fifty individual blossoms, all springing from the same root, their faces turned outward from the green rosette. In certain places these circles grow so close together that one can scarcely walk without stepping upon them. ”

“ These magnificent birds make a noble roast, and when young are very excellent, they are larded, plain roasted, and served with the tail stuck into them, which you have preserved, the head with its feathers being left folded up in paper and tucked under the wing; roast about an hour and a half, take the paper from the head and neck, dress it upon your dish with water-cresses and a border of tulips or roses round, and the gravy separate in a boat. ”

“ The growth of the tree is checked and these abnormal branches are formed only to die back each year. Trees in the earliest stages of rosette have been observed to have light crops of nuts, but, when badly diseased, are barren and unsightly or worse. Rosette has been found in all ages, from nursery stock to trees forty feet high. ”

“ We lie in the shade of a locust-tree. Haymakers go by in a hay-rigging. I am reminded of berrying. I scent the sweet fern and the dead or dry pine leaves. Cherry-birds alight on a neighboring tree. The warmth is something more normal and steady. Nature offers fruits now as well as flowers. We have become accustomed to the summer. It has acquired a certain eternity. The earth is dry. Perhaps the sound of the locust expresses the season as well as anything. I might make a separate season of those days when the locust is heard. ”

“ In England the operation of roasting is usually performed in a cylindrical tin box, perforated with numerous holes, and fixed upon a spit which runs lengthwise through the centre, and is turned by a jack. ”

“ A charming little desert plant, with spreading stems and small, narrow, toothless, gray bluish-green leaves, which are soft, but sprinkled with small, stiff, white bristles, the whole forming a rosette, five or six inches across, growing flat on the sand and ornamented with many pretty little flowers. They are each set off by a little rosette of leaves and are over half an inch across, with pinkish-lilac rays, shading to white towards the yellow center and tinted with bright purple on the back. 549
Desert Star—Erimiastrum bellidoides. ”

“ For the third roasting, which is in fact the final drying, the heat is not greater than what the hand can bear for some seconds without much inconvenience. “The fanning and the mode of roasting were the same as in the final part of the second roasting. It was now curious to observe the change of color which gradually took place in the leaves, for it was in this roasting that they began to assume that bluish tint, resembling the bloom on fruit, which distinguishes this tea, and renders its appearance so agreeable.” ”

“ Rost (1.) , masculine, ‘grate, gridiron,’ from Middle High German rôst, masculine, ‘grate, funeral pile, glow, fire,’ Old High German rôst, masculine, rôsta, feminine, ‘small gridiron, frying-pan,’ The current derivation from Rohr, in which case we should have to assume ‘iron grating’ as the primitively sense of Rost, does not satisfy the meaning (Old High German rôstpfanna, Middle High German rôstpfannue) . Derivative rösten, ‘to roast, broil,’ Middle High German rœsten, Old High German rôsten, ‘to lay on the gridiron, roast’ ”

“ One of the few hardy perennials that will thrive indoors the year round. Round, hairy silver-veined leaves grow in a rosette from the crown, which also sends out slender red stems, strawberry style, with new little plants that root and grow wherever they touch soil. In late spring the fall stems are topped by cloudlike soft clusters of small white flowers. ”

“ They clear a space of ground which they beat hard until it resembles a dark cemented floor, and upon this they pile the leafy branches of the tree. A fire is lit around this, care being taken not to ignite the branches and leaves, which undergo by this means a primitive process of roasting. ”