^12 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



in the open districts during the winter months, where it arrives 

 in small flocks about the latter half of September. The migra- 

 tions of the sexes are performed separately, the females arriving 

 some time before the males in the fall, but in spring the order is 

 reversed, large flocks of females remaining after all the males have 

 disappeared. Meanwhile, however, the dififerent flocks unite in 

 certain favoured places, especially at night, when particular spots, 

 such as large beds of tall weeds, old corn fields, and isolated cop- 

 pices are resorted to for the purpose of roosting, and to these 

 places the birds may be seen coming in flocks about sunset from 

 their feeding grounds in the neighbourhood. These companies do 

 not alight on their arrival at the roosting place, but continue 

 circling round and round above, each fresh band joining those 

 which have arrived previousl}^, until the air is black with them, 

 still the organization is so complete that a great number of birds 

 take up a comparatively small space. For some time they con- 

 tinue thus, carrying on all the while most beautiful aerial evolu- 

 tions with marvellous unanimity, now wheeling to one side, now 

 sweeping down like a living cataract till they almost touch the 

 weeds, and again rising into the air to repeat the movements, 

 but all the time acting as if but one impulse swayed the whole 

 host. Large areas of weeds may often be found broken short off 

 by the weight of the birds overcrowding to roost on them. 

 About the beginning of April the main body move north to more 

 suitable breeding haunts, leaving but a few scattered pairs, which 

 still linger in favoured places, such as the weed-covered margins 

 of creeks which have not yet quite dried up after the winter 

 rains. Here they bring out one brood during May, the young of 

 which I have shot when only just able to fly early in June, but 

 by the middle of that njonth they disappear entirely from the 

 district, probably passing further north in search of better watered 

 lands, the prairie creeks having become dry by that time. 

 Although these birds, doubtless, do considerable damage to the 

 newly-sown corn and wheat, it must be remembered that for the 

 greater part of the year they perform invaluable service to the 

 farmer by the destruction of myriads of noxious insects, and at 

 no time are they more useful than during farming operations, 

 when they follow the plough in large numbers, greedily devour- 

 ing the grubs and larvse which are turned up ; they also con- 



