Every spring scores of people flock to the Buzzard Festival at Hinckley, Ohio They come to watch for buzzards. Most would be glad just to catch a glimpse of a buzzard. If they do see one of these..“flying garbage cans,” it will probably be circling high in the sky. From there it can watch the ground for signs of the waste and the dead animals on which it feeds The buzzard is the ugliest bird in the United States In fact, it may well be the ugliest bird in the world. It has a small, bare pink head. Its thick body is covered with dark, rough feathers In spite of its looks, the buzzard. or turkey vulture, is important to the people of Hinckley. It is their first sign of spring After a winter in the south, buzzards return to their homes in the north. In the Hinckley area, they always return on March 15. No one knows why, But they have come back to Hinckley Ridge on that day. sure as clock work, for at least fifty years The buzzards really arrive before spring does in Hinckley. But the people are tired of the long winter. They are eager to hail the coming of spring. So it doesn't matter to them how cold it is on March 15. It doesn't matter how raw the winds are. The people of Hinckley still look on the return of the buzzards each year as the beginning of spring In San Juan Capistrano in California, spring is said to start on March 19. On that day the swallows come back to Capistrano The people of Hinckley are n lucky. They don't have swallows until later in the year. But they do have buzzards. So they welcome spring with them The excitement starts in February. By the middle of March it has reached a high peak. Bets are placed. Prizes go to the person who sees the first buzzard. Radio stations and newspapers tell of the coming festival Pupils in Hinckley's school draw buzzard pictures and put them up in on the halls of the school and on the weekend after March 15 the people of Hinckley hold their Buzzard festival. There are no bright banners and balloons. No bands march up and down the streets. There is just a big sign on e road to tell of the festival. Some small signs have cartoon drawings of " Buzzy Buzzard" on them. Pancakes and sausages are served. And that's about it. The people come and look around. They chat. They eat their fill of pancakes and sausages. Then they get into their cars and drive past Buzzard's Roost on Hinckley Ridge. A lot of them stop near the road at the stand set up to give information to visitors. There they can hear, from a recording, the main facts about the buzzard. They can see a stuffed buzzard. They can look at some pictures taken of buzzards in other years. With good luck and a strong pair of field glasses they may sight one or two live buzzards high n the sky Buzzards may be ugly They may be flying garbage cans But in Hinckley they are just as welcome as the swallows are in Capistrano. They are as important as emus are to the Australians, or storks to the Dutch and Germans. It would be a sad spring in deed if the buzzards ever failed to come back to Hinckley Ridge.