158 ROBIN ROOSTS. 
larger than it would have been had the sky 
been clear. 
On the afternoon of the 29th I again 
counted the arrivals at the eastern end; but 
though I set out, as I thought, in good sea- 
son, I found myself once more behind time. 
At 6.30 robins were already dropping in, 
notwithstanding the sky was cloudless. In 
the first. five minutes eighteen birds ap- 
peared; at sunset 818 had been counted; 
and at 7.30, when I came away, the figures 
stood at 1267. “The robins came more 
rapidly than last night,’’ I wrote in my note- 
book, “and for much of the time I could 
keep watch of the southeastern corner only. 
My vision then covered much less than a 
quarter of the circuit; so that if the birds 
came as freely from other directions, at least 
five thousand must have entered the wood 
between 6.30 and 7.30. As long as it was 
light they avoided passing directly by me, 
going generally to the left, and slipping into 
the roost behind some low outlying trees; 
though, fortunately, in doing this they were 
compelled to cross a narrow patch of the 
illuminated western sky. I suspect that the 
number increases from night to night. Be- 
