164 ROBIN ROOSTS. 
our way among the trees, till, suddenly, one 
of the trio struck a match and kindled a 
blaze of dry twigs. The smoke and flame 
speedily waked the sleepers; but even then 
they manifested no disposition to be driven 
out. : 
For curiosity’s sake, I paid one early 
morning visit to the roost, on the 380th of 
July. It would be worth while, I thought, 
to see how much music so large a chorus 
would make, as well as to note the manner 
of its dispersion. To tell the truth, I hoped 
for something spectacular, —a grand burst 
of melody, and then a pouring forth of a 
dense, uncountable army of robins. [I ar- 
rived about 3.40 Gt was still hardly light 
enough to show the face of the watch), and 
found everything quiet. Pretty soon the 
robins commenced cackling. At 3.45 a 
song sparrow sang, and at the-same moment 
I saw a robin fly out of the wood. Five 
minutes later a robin sang; at 3.55 another 
one flew past me; at four o’clock a few of 
the birds were in song, but the effect was 
not in any way peculiar, — very much as if 
two or three had been singing in the ordi- 
nary manner. ‘They dispersed precisely as 
