30 Tue Birps Axsout Us. 
to remain with their own kind shows itself in the 
habit—not an invariable one—of roosting together 
in some secure, secluded, thick-set growth of small 
trees; at least such places have always been chosen, 
so far as my personal observation goes. One robin- 
roost was on a rather steep bluff, forming at that 
point the bank of the river. The spot was densely 
covered with hemlocks and rhododendron. Here, 
in October and later until severe weather set in, hun- 
dreds of robins gathered about four p.m. The noise 
they made was quite equal to the chatter of as many 
crows. How early in the morning they scattered I 
could not learn, but almost none remained in the im- 
mediate vicinity through the day. 
It has been stated that no reference to this habit 
appeared in print prior to 1890, but it was known 
outside of books for more than a century. Proba- 
bly the remarkable roosts seen in Massachusetts, 
where thousands of robins were congregated, is ex- 
tremely unusual, but to find at least one thousand 
roosting in a space of less than half an acre is by no 
means uncommon. 
The Varied Thrush, a Pacific coast robin, is so far 
of a wandering disposition as to have reached the 
Eastern States, but none have apparently taken up 
permanent quarters here. A new bird has little 
chance shown it, thanks to the extreme zeal of pro- 
fessional ornithologists. To demonstrate the fact 
that a bird was here is considered of more scientific 
value than to assure the public that it zs here. 
A thrush according to the “system” (z.¢., its anat- 
omy), but not thrush-like in appearance, is the one 
