

THE OBERLIN SUMMER CRACKLE ROOST. 



The forces of nature in action all about us are untiring in their recur- 

 rence, and yet how few of them ever reach even the surface of our con- 

 sciousness. We enter some new field of study and investigation only to 

 be amazed at our stupidity in not seeing those things which may have 

 touched us every day of our lives before. Thus it is that nature study 

 is so fascinating to most of us ; every day is full of surprises. This is, 

 perhaps, more true of the study of birds than of almost any other living 

 things because we have the birds always with us in their varied beauty, 

 the charm of their song and the intense activity of thsir lives. They 

 seem to speak directly to us in a language which we can sometimes partly 

 understand, and which we can always appreciate. The measure of our 

 knowledge of the birds is often not the degree of our intimacy with any 

 of the many species, or, indeed, all of them if that were possible ; for if 

 a species is well known and common we are too much inclined to pass it 

 by with the thought that there is little more worth knowing about it, to 

 study with more care some rare species from whose history we are pretty 

 sure to discover the hint of some general truths never before suspected in 

 the commonplace life of the more familiar species. Many " Life Histo- 

 ries " of the birds have been written, shedding much light upon the 

 vexed questions of our favorite science ; but I venture to say that the 

 entire life history of even our most common birds has never been ap- 

 proached, certainly not in any one work. Thus it is possible for any 

 of us, by careful, patient study, to add greatly, it may be, to our im- 

 • perfect knowledge of the birds. 



There is nothing new in the announcement that many birds which may 

 or may not be gregarious at other times, congregate in large numbers to 

 pass the night together in some favored spot. Alexander Wilson was 

 acquainted with this fact, and no doubt others before him. It has been 

 noticed and mentioned by later writers from time to time, but this inter- 

 esting habit has not received the attention it deserves in literature until 

 within recent years. We are indebted to Mr. O. Widmann for an account 

 of the "Crow's Winter Roost at St. Louis, Mo.,"* to Mr. William Brew- 

 ster for an accurate account of the " Summer Robin Roosts" near Cam- 



*Crow's Winter Roost at St. Louis, Mo., Ornithologist 6^ Oologist, February, 

 p. 17. 



