ROBIN ROOSTS. 167 
not unlikely that travelers from the north 
were making a temporary use of the well- 
known resort. It would not be surprising 
if the same were found to be true in the 
spring. In April, 1890, I saw some things 
which pointed, as I thought, in this direc- 
tion, but I was then too closely occupied to 
follow the matter. 
How early in the season does this nightly 
flocking begin? This question often pre- 
sented itself. It was only the middle of 
July when the Cambridge roost was found 
in full operation, though at that time many 
robins must still have had family duties, and 
some were probably building new nests. 
Next summer, we said, we would try to 
mark the beginnings of the congregation. 
My own plans to this end came near being 
thwarted. In December I was dismayed to 
see the owner of the wood cutting it down. 
Happily some kind power stayed his hand 
when not more than a third of the mischief 
was done, and on the 29th of June, 1890, 
while strolling homeward along the highway, 
listening to the distant song of a veery, I 
noticed within five or ten minutes seventeen 
robins making toward the old rendezvous. 
