30 Bird Day Book 



martins, and other birds, it is a sufficient reason why the lives of 

 these valuable birds should be saved. 



Martins are accustomed to gather in large flocks during the 

 latter part of summer for the purpose of roosting in some favored 

 grove. As they journey southward, apparently, these flocks increase 

 in size, and the writer has on several occasions watched the birds 

 coming to their roosts in the evening in astonishing numbers, esti- 

 mated at 100,000. They seem to prefer a grove, near a human 

 habitation, for their nightly rendezvous. They create no little 

 comment in the neighborhood because of their numbers, and by their 

 continuous chatter and fluttering, particularly during the early part 

 of the night. There is usually little prejudice against them, but not 

 infrequently the people in the neighborhood make excuse that the 

 birds are a nuisance and proceed to shoot into the flocks when they 

 come to roost. — Wm. Butcher. 



m 



IN MAY 



-♦©♦■ 



IN MAY the Irish air is sweet 

 With odor from the hawthorn spray. 

 And birds each other blithely greet 



In May. 



Night holds but momentary sway ; 

 Then vanishes with flying feet 

 Before the swift approach of Day. 



Stags bellow, and the proud rams bleat, 

 The shining salmon leaps in play ; 

 While happy lovers often meet 



In May. 

 — Norreys Jephson 0' Conor. 



