30 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



to remain with their own kind shows itself in the 

 habit not an invariable one of roosting together 

 in some secure, secluded, thick-set growth of small 

 trees ; at least such places have always been chosen, 

 so far as my personal observation goes. One robin- 

 roost was on a rather steep bluff, forming at that 

 point the bank of the river. The spot was densely 

 covered with hemlocks and rhododendron. Here, 

 in October and later until severe weather set in, hun- 

 dreds of robins gathered about four P.M. The noise 

 they made was quite equal to the chatter of as many 

 crows. How early in the morning they scattered I 

 could not learn, but almost none remained in the im- 

 mediate vicinity through the day. 



It has been stated that no reference to this habit 

 appeared in print prior to 1890, but it was known 

 outside of books for more than a century. Proba- 

 bly the remarkable roosts seen in Massachusetts, 

 where thousands of robins were congregated, is ex- 

 tremely unusual, but to find at least one thousand 

 roosting in a space of less than half an acre is by no 

 means uncommon. 



The Varied Thrush, a Pacific coast robin, is so far 

 of a wandering disposition as to have reached the 

 Eastern States, but none have apparently taken up 

 permanent quarters here. A new bird has little 

 chance shown it, thanks to the extreme zeal of pro- 

 fessional ornithologists. To demonstrate the fact 

 that a bird was here is considered of more scientific 

 value than to assure the public that it is here. 



A thrush according to the " system" {i.e., its anat- 

 omy), but not thrush-like in appearance, is the one 



