THE OOLOGIST. 



55 



re-built to prevent the encroachmeDts 

 of the Cowbird. The Ovenbird, that 

 often burrows beneath the dead leaves 

 and constructs its dome-like home so 

 beautifully concealed that it is only dis- 

 covered by accident. One of the most 

 artistic of nests is the home of the Hood- 

 ed Warbler. A rare nester, but I have 

 had the good fortune to meet with over 

 a dozen of these fairy homes, and all 

 were composed in the body of bleached 

 leaves of the sugar maple, giving a 

 pleasing appearance to the structure. 

 Morris Gibbs, M. D. 

 Kalamazoo, Mich. 

 To be continued. 



Robins' Roosts Again. 



Your article on Robin's Roosts in the 

 February issue leads me to- speak fur- 

 ther on the subject. It is unusual to meet 

 with lax'ge roosts in the Great Lake 

 Region, and in my experience I have 

 known of a flock of these birds which 

 exceeded one hundred. But in the 

 south the Migratory Thrush is to be 

 found in thousands in the migrations; 

 especially in February and early March. 



One season about the middle of Feb- 

 ruary these cheerful birds were observ- 

 ed in immense flocks on the eastern 

 coast of Florida, in Brevard county and 

 below the 28th. parallel. Their route 

 of migration was probably via the Ba- 

 hamas as they appeared with a rush and 

 had not been recorded that year '94 in 

 the State to my knowledge. One morn- 

 ing thousands were to be seen all about 

 the place. They were in live oaks, pal- 

 mettoes and even in the mangroves 

 which line the shores of that long la- 

 goon, the Indian River. But most of 

 the birds kept upon the ground where 

 vast flocks were to be seen feeding at 

 all times of the day. Plenty of cheer- 

 ful chirps and other small talk were in- 

 dulged in. by the immigrants from the 

 Bahamas, but there was not a full song 

 to be heard from any one of the flock. 

 At night the Robins roosted all about 



us and hundreds must have sekcted 

 the mangroves for a lodging house as 

 they were seen skipping about in the 

 almost impenetrable tangle just at dusk, 

 while later their cheeps could be occa- 

 sionally heard as they composed them- 

 selves to rest. It is generally supposed 

 that Robins and othtr thrushes and in 

 fact all of the perchers migrate at night, 

 and this has been proven satisfactorily 

 in most cases, birds are very leisurely 

 in their migratory movements and fre- 

 quently remain in a locality for several 

 days in spring as well a.s autumn. 



The large majority of these birds re- 

 mained at that location for two days, 

 while the last of the flock was seen as 

 late as five days after the first appear- 

 ance. Not another Robin was seen 

 that season, and I watched carefully 

 until late April. Morris Gibbs. 



John A Dakin. 



Mr. John A. Dakin an associate mem- 

 ber of the American Ornithologists Un- 

 ion, died after an illness of six days of 

 spasmodic colic, at his home in Syra- 

 cuse, N. Y. Feb. 21, 1900, at the age of 

 48 years. Mr. Dakin was born at Hills- 

 dale, Columbia Co., N. Y. in 1852, but 

 when a small boy moved to Tully, N. Y. 

 with his parents, where he received his 

 first education in one of the district 

 schools. When he was hardly old 

 enough to roam over the hills and 

 through wood and swamp his love for 

 birds began to develop, as it was his 

 delight, day after day, to watch and 

 listen to the Bobolinks and other birds 

 as they flitted and sung by the roadside 

 as he passed on his way to school. 



Above the window at his home a pair 

 of little wrens had made their nest in a 

 box, and it was his delight to watch and 

 study these little creatures that he 

 might learn their habits, and they were 

 called by the family, John's birds. 



When he was scarcely eight years old 

 he had innumerable birds' nests, and 



