8 ; MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



floating, soaring, now advancing, next retreating, but never quite able, as it 

 seemed, to throw oft' the spell of the fatal lantern. Their rapidly vibrating 

 wings made a haze about their forms which in the strong light looked semi- 

 transparent. At a distance all appeared of a pale, silvery gray color, nearer, 

 of a rich yellow. They reminded me by turns of meteors, gigantic moths. 

 Swallows with sunlight streaming through their wings. I could not watch 

 them for any length of time without becoming dizzy and bewildered. 



When the wind blew strongly they circled around to leeward, breasting it 

 in a dense throng, which drifted backward and forward, up and down, like 

 a swarm of gnats dancing in the sunshine. Dozens were continually leav- 

 ing this throng and skimming towards the lantern. As they approached 

 they invariably soared upward, and those which started on a level with 

 the platform usually passed above the roof. Others sheered off at the last 

 moment, and shot by with arrow-like swiftness, while more rarel}' one would 

 stop abruptly and, poising a few feet from the glass, inspect the lighted 

 space within. Often for a minute or more not a bird would strike. Then, 

 as if seized by a panic, they would come against the glass so rapidly, and 

 in such numbers, that the sound of their blows resembled the pattering of 

 hail. Many struck the tin roof above the light, others the iron railing 

 which enclosed the platform, while still others pelted me on the back, arms, 

 and legs, and one actually became hopelessly entangled in my beard. At 

 times it fairl}' rained birds, and the platform, wet and shining, was strewn 

 with the dead and dying. 



Sept. 5. At half-past nine in the evening (after a clear, cool day) a 

 cloud bank rapidly spread overhead from the northwest. At ten o'clock 

 the night was very dark, the wind northeast and blowing heavily. Soon after- 

 ward rain began to fall in torrents, and with the first shower came the birds in 

 great numbers. Several struck the lantern each minute, and with such force 

 that nearly every one was instantly killed or disabled. The strong wind swept 

 them off the platform as fast as they fell, the wounded fluttering noisily 

 down the shingled walls of the tower against which they vainly attempted 

 to cling. It was short, sharp work, for by half-past ten they ceased striking, 

 although the air was still full of them. At half-past eleven the sky cleared 

 along the western horizon, and the birds at once disappeared. 



On this occasion I picked up fifteen birds, either on the ledge or at the 

 base of the tower. Many others, which were disabled, fell into the sea or 

 drifted off with the wind. The bulk of the flight was composed of Vireos 

 ( V. oh'vaceus) . Besides these I examined or identified one specimen each 

 of Dcndroica ■pcnsylvanica, D. castanca, D. blackbnrnra;, D. maculosa, 

 Seiurus nmvius, Turdns szvainsoiii, Contofus virens, and two Dolichonyx 

 oryzivorus. 



Sept. 7. At half-past ten o'clock this evening, after a clear and rather 



