Cambridge, Mass.
1903.
April 29
  Clear and very warm with S.W. wind. Ther. rose to 82 degrees.
  On the evening of March 12th I heard a Robin 
calling for the first time this spring, in our garden.
The gardener, Karl, who knows most of the commoner
birds, reported seeing upwards of fifty Robins in the 
garden the following evening. They were flying about
excitedly, he said, & he thought they were preparing
to reoccupy their old summer roost in the lilacs. 
Although he is a truthful man I could not, at this 
time, credit his story but on several occasions
afterwards, during March & early April, I noticed
that there were more Robins about the place at
evening than during the day and on the evening 
of April 14th I saw at least a dozen there. They kept
flying into & from the lilacs as if they wanted to roost
there but were not quite satisfied with the conditions
they found. As nearly as I could make out they 
afterwards scattered about in the cedar & spruces just
behind the house. The lilacs were at this time
bare of foliage.
Spring Robin roost in the garden
  Two weeks passed when I was either absent or unable
to keep any track of what was going on in the Garden.
This morning, however, I noticed that the ground under 
the lilacs was white in several places with the chalk-like 
droppings of the Robin & when I approached the place
this evening I heard a wonderful chorus of Robin voices
coming from the garden. It was about 6.45 P.M. &
twilight was beginning to deepen. On opening the back door
of the house & peeping out I saw Robins dashing to &
fro among the lilacs just as they did last summer. There