168 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 89 



could say that morning had dawned, and a chorus of chirps 

 and calls beg-an which did not quiet down until the roost had 

 been vacated. At 5 :21 the first bird flew out. At 5 :32 the 

 calling became much louder, and we heard the call which can 

 be best expressed by " whe-ap." At 5 :25 the disturbance be- 

 came quite general and there was considerable uproar, and 

 much flying about among the trees. 



At intervals about twenty-one mourning doves flew from 

 outside trees and the main roost. At 5 :20 a Blue Jay called 

 and was answered two or three times by other Blue Jays ; this 

 seemed to stir the Robins up a little, and they began to leave 

 in large numbers. Among other birds heard in and about 

 the roost at this time might be mentioned the Baltimore Ori- 

 ole, several Goldfinches, a Downy Woodpecker, and several 

 Chickadees ; while on Sept. 24th, about 100 Blue-bi-rds' rested 

 there over night. At 5 :45 about a hundred Chimney Swifts 

 appeared, probably coming from a large chimney of a nearb)' 

 schoolbuilding. By 6 :50 the roost was practically deserted 

 except for two or three Robins which had been stunned by 

 flying into telephone wires. The great majority of the Robins 

 on leaving the roost, flew out a short distance, alighting in 

 other trees or on wires, where they seemed to take a brief 

 rest before proceeding to the feeding grounds. On the way 

 from the roost the Robins were seen on all sides, on the Col- 

 lege Campus, in private yards ; many were on the ground 

 feeding, others were perched in trees and on the roofs of 

 houses. No doubt the birds gradually dispersed to the outer 

 limits of their feeding range, for by ten o'clock they had dis- 

 appeared from the immediate neighborhood. 



On Sept. 4th, an effort was made to count the Robins ar- 

 riving from the south, as well as from the north ; at this time 

 362 birds were counted, in a similar manner 558 were counted 

 on the evening of the eighth. 



On Sept. 9th, a heavy rain fell throughout the day, in fact 

 it was said to be the heaviest rain in sixteen years ; dark- 

 ness settled rather early in consequence of the cloudiness. 

 Although watching under these circumstances was uncom- 



