lose at hand. Of the 935 birds, 761 came before
seven o'clock, but it was reasonably certain that the flight afterward
was nearly or quite as great, only that I wanted light wherewith to see
it.

On the evening of August 4th I went back to the eastern end, and as the
sky was perfectly clear I hoped to make a gain upon all my previous
figures. But the fair weather was perhaps a hindrance rather than a
help; for the robins came later than before, and more in a body, and
continued to arrive long after it was impossible to see them. I counted
1480,--53 less than on the 1st.

I attempted no further enumeration until the 18th. Then, in an hour and
ten minutes, 1203 birds were seen to enter the roost at the eastern end.
But they arrived more than ever in flocks, and so late that for much of
the time I missed all except the comparatively small number that passed
in my immediate vicinity. Many were flying at a great height,--having
come from a long distance, as I inferred,--and sometimes I knew nothing
of their approach till they dropped out of the sky directly over the
wood. On this occasion, as well as on many others,--but chiefly during
the latter part of the season,--it was noticeable that some of the
robins appeared to be ignorant of the precise whereabouts of the roost;
they flew past it at first, and then, after more or less circling about,
with loud cackling, dived hurriedly into the wood. I took special note
of one fellow, who came from the south at a great altitude, and went
directly over the wood. When he was well past it he suddenly pulled
himself up, as if fancying he had caught a signal. After a moment of
hesitation he proceeded on his northerly course, but had not gone far
before he met half a dozen birds flying south. Perhaps he asked them the
way. At all events, he wheeled about and joined them, and in half a
minute was safe in port. He had heard of the roost, apparently (how and
where?), but had not before visited it.

This count of August 18th was the last for nearly a month, but I find a
minute of August 27th stating that, while walking along the highway on
the westerly side of the roost,--the side that had always been the least
populous,--I saw within less than two minutes (as I calculated the time)
more than eighty robins flying toward the wood. Up to this date, then,
there could not have been any considerable falling off in the size of
the gathering. Indeed, from my friend's observations upon the Belmont