ROBIN ROOSTS. 175 



tain wooded hill, whence they took a final 

 flight to their nightly haven, perhaps a quar- 

 ter of a mile beyond. Farther down the 

 valley, a mile or more from the roost, birds 

 were to be seen flying toward it, but I found 

 no place at which a general movement could 

 be observed and large numbers counted. 



As to the size of these nightly gatherings, 

 it seems wisest not to guess; though, treat- 

 ing the subject in this narrative manner, I 

 have not scrupled to mention, simply as a 

 part of the story, some of my temporary sur- 

 mises. What I am told of the Belmont 

 wood is true also of the one in Melrose : its 

 shape and situation are such as to make an 

 accurate census impossible, no matter how 

 many "enumerators" might be employed. 

 It could be surrounded easily enough, but it 

 would be out of the question to divide the 

 space among the different men so that no 

 two of them should count the same birds. 

 At present it can only be said that the rob- 

 ins are numbered by thousands; in some 

 cases, perhaps, by tens of thousands. 



