14 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 



axe sitting already in solemn silence, probably in secret 

 session. Ten thousand Martins sitting close together on 

 a few acres of sandbar is a sight not often met with, and 

 we must look at them very sharply. They are not very 

 shy, many alight a few yards from us and we can watch 

 even,^ movement. The only movement we can see is a 

 picking motion as if taking up a grain of sand, but this 

 is only play work, because we see them also pick at straw 

 protruding from the sand. They did not come to eat 

 sand, their only pur[3ose is to meet here and decide if to 

 go on with their journey southward or to take a rest in 

 the neighboring roost. It is now 6 :45 and getting dusk. 

 The smoke of the city, driven by a northeast wind, has 

 enveloped the western horizon and all will be dark in a 

 few minutes. Do they sleep on that sand? They have 

 been sitting here now for half an hour. Look here, four 

 birds coming toward the willows; they are scouts! Is 

 this not a strange call, a call never heard around their 

 breeding boxes ? They are now all four above us, circling 

 over the willows and returning to the sand. Presently 

 the ranks of the Martins thin out, and in less than a min- 

 ute all have left the sand, flying out on the river, down 

 toward the island, rising above the willows, and in a few 

 minutes all is quiet, dark. The Martins have gone to 

 rest, and we will not disturb them. It would be difficult 

 work to penetrate these willow thickets at night. 



The willows are about twenty feet high and stand very 

 close together. The ground is swampy in some places 

 and it is covered all over with debris left by last year's 

 inundation. We shall try to see them leave the willows 

 tomorrow morning. 



It is 5 A. M., the stars have disappeared, with the ex- 

 ception of a few bright ones. We are on the bluffs oppo- 

 site the sandbar. The first break of day stands in the 

 eastern horizon, but night still reigns west of us. This 

 is the moment when the Martin leaves its roost. They 



