Night

As to what, by the common law, is reckoned night and what day, it seems to be the general opinion that, lf there be daylight or crepusculum, enough begun or left to discern a man's face, that is considered day; and night is when it is so dark that the countenance of a man cannot be discerned. 1 Hale, P. C. 350. However, the limit of 9 p. M. to 6 a. m. has been fixed by statute, in England, as the period of night, in prosecutions for burglary and larceny. St. 24 & 25 Viet. c. 96, § 1; Brown. In American law, the common-law definition is still adhered to in some states, but in others "night" has been defined by statute as the period between sunset and sunrise.

— Night magistrate. A constable of the night; the head of a watch-house.

— Night walkers. Described in the statute 5 Edw. III. c. 14, as persons who sleep by day and walk by night. Persons who prowl about at night, and are of a suspicious appearance and behavior. Persons whose habit is to be abroad at night for the purpose of committing some crime or nuisance or mischief or disturbing the peace; not now generally subject to the criminal laws except in respect to misdemeanors actually committed, or in the character of vagrants or suspicious persons. See Thomas v. State, 55 Ala. 260; State v. Dowers, 45 N. H. 543. In a narrower sense, a night walker is a prostitute who walks the streets at night for the purpose of soliciting men for lewd purposes. Stokes v. State, 92 Ala. 73, 9 South. 400, 25 Am. St. Rep. 22; Thomas v. State, 55 Ala. 260.