176 



Bird - Lore 



Red-wings Going to Roost 



One evening in April, as I was returning 

 from a ramble, I passed a swamp which is 

 a favorite roosting-place in the spring for 

 a large number of Red-winged Blackbirds. 

 It was dusk when I arrived at the place, 

 and a great chattering and "o-gleeing" 

 was going on in the swamp. The odd 

 thing — if it was odd — about the incident 

 was the following: A portion of the plowed 

 hill field at one side of the marsh was black 

 with birds, I should say several hundred 

 of them. Quite a number were also 

 perched on some trees on the crest of the 

 ridge near those on the ground. Why the 

 Red-wings had gathered on the hill before 

 retiring I could only surmise. Now, 

 instead of all of them flying down to the 

 swamp at once, a small flock would sud- 

 denly detach themselves from the rest, 

 as if by a signal, and swing down into the 

 vale, distributing themselves among the 

 reeds and flags. Presently another com- 

 pany would do the same, and thus the 

 program was continued at intervals, until 

 the last Red-wing had left the ridge and 

 was ensconced in the dense flags of the 

 swamp. 



It looked like an instance of reasoning 

 among the intelligent birds, for if all the 

 host had flown down from the ridge at 

 once, there would have been great con- 

 fusion in getting to bed. As it was, how- 

 ever, each flock would wait until the pre- 

 ceding flock was well settled, and thus 

 all could retire in good order. At least, it 

 looked as if that was the controlling idea 

 in the plan. It was a clear evening, and 

 perhaps so many of the clans had gathered 

 just at dusk that they could not all get 

 to roost simultaneously, and so they 

 settled first on the ridge, and then went to 

 bed in the orderly way just described. 



A couple of weeks later I went to the 

 place to see whether the foregoing program 

 was repeated. I am sorry to have to say 

 it was not. There was no massing of the 

 clans on the plowed ridge. It was a 

 cloudy and blustery evening, and many of 

 the birds had come early, while other small 

 flocks kept coming from a distance, and 



settled at once in the roosting resort. Now 

 and then a few would fly up from the 

 swamp and settle for a little while on the 

 plowed field or on the trees, as if they 

 felt that they had gone to bed too early. 

 Then, as darkness fell, all of them swung 

 down to their sleeping apartments in the 

 swamp, saying "ogle-e-e" for "good- 

 night." — Leander S. Keyser, Canal 

 Dover, O. 



Benumbed Grosbeaks 



On May 12, 1909, soon after 8 a.m. 

 I was called out-of-doors for a most 

 unusual surprise. The weather was clear, 

 the mercury during the night barely reach- 

 ing the frost line, and under the trees by 

 the house a pair of Rose-breasted Gros- 

 beaks had just been found, picked up from 

 the grass almost as easily as if they were 

 dead, and there they perched on the hands 

 that had held them, evidently unable to 

 fly. The female seemed the more active, 

 turning her head readily, but the male even 

 held his eyes nearly shut. Neither showed 

 any injury, so I carried them indoors, 

 walking with the very novel sensation of 

 a live Grosbeak perched on each hand. 



Sunlight and a warm room, in a couple 

 of hours had the desired effect, as their 

 efforts to escape indicated, and when 

 taken outdoors both birds made all haste 

 for the trees. What could have been the 

 trouble ? Were they simply cold ? — • 

 Isabel McC. Lemmon, Englewood, N. J. 



Nest- Moving 



It was with pleasure that we noted the 

 home-making of a pair of Yellow Warblers 

 which had chosen the lilac bush at the 

 end of our front veranda for a nest-site. 



A pair of Robins occupied the back 

 porch, Bluebirds owned the bird-house, 

 and Swallows were at home in our barn, 

 so we were glad to have the Warblers 

 move into our neighborhood. 



Material seemed somewhat scarce, so 

 we scattered colored yarn and cotton- 

 batting over the lilac bush and waited 

 to see if our offer of help was to be ac- 



