Pec. 24, 1891. J 



f^Ofttst AND stRfilAM. 



447 



SUMMER ROBIN ROOSTS. 



IN the October number of the Auk Mr. Wm. Brewster 

 discusses at some length a subject which to many 

 readers will be entirely novel. This matter is so interest- 

 ing tliat we quote very fully from the article in question, 

 Mr. Brewster says: 



"Perhaps the "greatest charm of ornithology is that its 

 pursuit yields surprises when they are least expected. 

 Especially true is this of the study of birds' habits, for a 

 close watch kept on even the commoner species is sure, 

 soouer or later, to reveal facts not in the books. Nor is 

 this strange, for a lifetime is not long enough for fathom- 

 ing all the secrets of the woods and fields immediately 

 about one's home, while the general subject is inexhaust- 

 ible. Moreover, a discovery which comes early and easily 

 to one may long elude others equally vigilant. Yet who 

 would suspect that at this late day ihere could be an un- 

 OTitten page in the life history of our robin (MeriiJa 

 migratoria), a species of unusually general distribution, 

 abundant nearly everywhere, and probably familiar to a 

 larger number of people than any other bird on this con- 

 tinent? Nevertheless no author whom I have consulted 

 so much as mentions the fact that robins, while still in 

 their sammer haunts, form roosts- which are resorted to 

 regularly night after night and season after season by 

 hundreds or even thousands. Such gatherings, however, 

 are by no means uncommon in Massachusetts, and they 

 doubtless occur throughout the entire North, wherever 

 robins abound. 



"Possiblj"^ they have been, neglected rather than over- 

 looked. In either case I wish to show that they are not 

 without importance. What I have to say of them pro- 

 ceeds chiefly from personal experience, but I have also 

 drawn freely from the notes of Messrs. Faxon, Batchel- 

 der and Torreyt , to all of whom I am indebted for much 

 valuable aid in the preparation of this paper. 



"Our Massachusetts I'obin roosts are invariably in low- 

 lying woods, which are usually swampy and are com- 

 posed of such deciduous trees as maples, oaks, chestnuts 

 and birches, sometimes mixed with white pines. I have 

 never known robins to actually spend the night, how- 

 ever, in the latter, or indeed in any species of evergreen, 

 except at Falmouth, Mass., where there has been a small 

 gathering these past two seasens in a white cedar swamp. 

 Thetrees in the roost may be tall and old, with spread- 

 ing tops, or crowded saplings only 30 to 30ft. in height, 

 but it is essential that they furnish a dense canopy of 

 foliage of ^suflEieient extent to accommodate the birds 

 which assemble there. As a rule, the woods are remote 

 from buildings andsunrounded by open fields or meadows, 

 but the latter may be hemmed in closely by houses, as is 

 the case with a roost which at present exists in the very 

 heaxt of Cambridge. A roost once esDablished is resorted 

 to nightly, not ouly during an entire season, but for 

 many successive seasons. Nevertheless it is sometimes 

 cibandoned either with or without obvious cause, as the 

 following account of the movements of the Cambridge 

 robins during the past twenty odd years will show." 



Mr, Brewster then describes at some length the several 

 robin roosts near Cambridge, Mass,, which he and others 

 observed between the years 186T and 1889 and gives esti- 

 iiiates of the actual numbers of birds which occupied 

 such roosts. It appears that these numbers vary widely 

 and that while some are small others may have had 

 55,000 inhabitants. As to the time when the roosts begin 

 to b^ used i\lr. Brewster says: 



'•Uu ring the past season Mr. Faxon saw a few robins 

 Igoing to the Beaver Brook roost as early as June 11. but 

 I have never observed any well-marked" flights at Cam- 

 bridge before the 20th of that month.- The time probably 

 depends somewhat on the date at which the first broods 

 of young are strong enough to make the necessary eft'ort. 

 for the earlier gatherings are composed chiefly of young 

 birds still in spotted plumage. Perhaps not all of those 

 able to undertake the journey actually perform it at this 

 period, for the movement, at' its inception, is slight, and 

 it gains momentum slowly. After July 1 it increases 

 more rapidly, and by the middle of July becomes wide- 

 spread and general, although it does not usually reach 

 its height uotil the latter part of that month or early in 

 August. By this time the old birds have brought out 

 their second broods, and old and young of both sexes 

 ,and all ages and conditions join the general throng. In 

 feet it is nearly certain that during August practically 

 ^11 our robins visit some roost nightly. 



It is by no means equally clear that individual birds or 

 flocks go always to the same roost. If this were so the 

 number at any given roost should remain uniform for a 

 time after it has reached its maximum and before the 

 migration. But it not only varies from week to week, 

 but from night to night. 'Thus at the Norton roost, 

 where, owing to the small size of the colony and to the 

 fact that most of its members enter at one side over a 

 wide opening, it is possible to count the birds with close 

 approach to accuracy, Mr. Batchelder counted 861 on 

 July :^3, and on the next evening 1,062, an increase of 

 about 23 per cent. Oa^the evening of Aug. 15 following, 

 standing at precisely the same point, I counted only 518; 

 on that of Sept. 4, 1,251. Mr. Faxon's counts at Belmont 

 and Mr. Torrey'a at Melrose Highlands show similar vari- 

 ations. As already stated, Mr, Faxon's largest count was 

 made Sept. 3, 1H89, the next largest Aug. 28 of the same 

 year. The Meh-ose roost, during the last two seasons, 

 was apparently most populous in the latter part of 

 July. More observations are perhaps necessary before 

 the cause of tliese fluctuations can be definitely ascer- 

 tained: but as robins, when not tied down liy fam- 

 ily cares, are addicted to wandering more or less 

 widelj' in pm-suit of food or recreation, it seems more than 

 likely that during August and early September they some- 

 riimes pass outside the limits of the region— often, be it 

 remembered, only a few miles in extent — tributary to 

 itheir chosen roo'sts. If this is true— and it can scarcely 

 be doubted— what more natural than that they should 

 join at nightfall the general exodus from the surrounding 

 iields and woods, even though it leads in a direction con- 



I : li r i iri u known for some time of course, that robins form 

 large rooE-ts while in their winter quarters in the South, but no 

 ^yery esacf. or precise information concerning these roosts seems 

 to have been thus far recorded, 



+ Mr. Torrey has written an article on this subject for the ^t- 

 lantic Monthly, It will relate, I understand. chieJi}' to a roost at 

 Melrose Higmauds, wliieh he has studied closely. 



trary to that which they have been accustomed to take? 

 lu support of this assumption is the fact that, as far as I 

 have seen, the evening flights over any given place are 

 mvariably in one direction, that is there are never two 

 sets of robins passing in different directions at the same 

 time, as would be the case were siich rovers to return at 

 evening straight to their own roosts. This theory, it will 

 be obseredj is only necessary to account for the acqttisition 

 of the habit by the young, for after it has become estab- 

 lished a knowledge of the existence and position of several 

 roosts would certainly be taken advantage of more or less 

 frequently. Another factor which possibly has some in- 

 fltience on the fluctuations under consideration is the robin 

 population of the country along the boundaries between 

 two contiguous roosting areas. Why may not tliis constitute 

 a neutral ground, its inhabitants "sometimes visiting one 

 roost, sometimes the other, as fancy or the condition of 

 wind and weather dictate? This suggestion, however, is 

 pure speculation unsupported by any data, 



A fter the middle of September ' the roosting flighti 

 diminish rapidly, and by the end of the first week in Oc 

 tober the roosts are practically deserted. 



I had supposed that the old birds which accompany 

 the young in the earlier fl ights to the roosts are individuals 

 of both sexes that for one reason or another have not 

 attempted to rear second broods. But Mr. Faxon informs 

 me that as far as he has seen they are inva,riably males, 

 and in disproof of the rest of my asstimption furnishes 

 the following interesting bit of evidence. The observa- 

 tions quoted were made in July. 1890, a little over a mile 

 from the Beaver Brook roost. 



"The numbers of adult males in song, and the lack of 

 females shown whenever I scrutinized the individual 

 birds on their way to the roost— together with the fact 

 that the robins hereabouts seemed to be generally en- 

 gaged at that time in rearing new broods— led me to 

 doubt your theory and to attempt observations that wottld 

 throw some light on the subject. It happened that on 

 the 22d of July there were two robins' nests on the place, 

 one with three young, well advanced, and one with three 

 eggs (female sitting). I had noticed several times that 

 the male belonging to nest No. 1 carried food to his 

 young late in the afternoon, while the flight to the roost 

 was going on. On the day above named, tlierefore. I 

 began watching him closely toward evening, and saw 

 him— after feeding the young— fly straight off for the 

 roost. 1^ miles away, at 7:30 P.' M. You remember I 

 have an unobstrticted view from the house to the 

 north and northwest, so the bird's course could be 

 readily followed till he disappeared over the 'Granite 

 Ledge.' On his departure the female came and took 

 possession of the nest for the night. I saw her brooding 

 the young until it became so dark that I could distinguish 

 nothing, even at near range with opera-glasses. Oq the 

 following evening the male again fed the young at about 

 the same hour, then flew to the top of a spruce tree, and, 

 after singing a good-night to his wife and babies, took a 

 direct flight for the roost. The female then fed the 

 young and settled in the nest. This was all repeated 

 again on the 24th. While this was going on female No. 

 2 was sitting closely and I saw nothing of her mate, 

 although the young hatched out on or before the 30th. 

 The young in nest No. 1 left it on the 26th. This male 

 has been on the place all summer, and by long famili- 

 arity we have come to distinguish him readily by a pecu- 

 liar high note in his song. On the morning of the 24th I 

 was awake from 3 to 4 o'clock, and our model husband 

 and father returned to his family at 3:40 (sunrise 4:29), 

 his arrival being announced by his glad call and morn- 

 ing song. On the morning of the 26th (which was 

 cloudy) his salute was not heard from the favorite tree 

 till 4 o'clock. He was singing pretty freely, even throttgh 

 the day, tip to the time the young left the nest. Since 

 then, although the whole family has remained about the 

 nest up to this time, he has been almost silent (at least so 

 far as singing is concerned), like the rest of his tribe at 

 the present time. 



"Now, although these observations were all made on 

 one family of robins, I have no doubt that they show, 

 when taken in connection with the other facts, "that the 

 early flights to the roost are composed of the first brood 

 young together with the old males. The later augmenta- 

 tion of the roost will come from the younger broods plus 

 the females. What possibilities are suggested— if this be 

 so— through the persistence of mutual relations between 

 the old males and their offspring! The old birds must 

 guide the young birds to the old roosting ground, and 

 who shall say that this hegemony of the roost mav not 

 continue in a greater or less degree throughout the sea- 

 son? I do not mean to imply that each parent takes his 

 own offspring in tow— but the nightly re-union of old and 

 young en masse cannot but be an education for the 

 youngsters. It was a revelation to me to find the male 

 robins taking care of their younger broods and wives by 

 day, and going off nightly to sleep with their elder 

 children 1" 



Most of the roosts which I have visited are resorted to 

 by other birds besides robins. 



[to be concluded 'S'ext week.] 



Birds of Lond Island.— No. 525 Manhattan Avenue, 

 Newlork City, Dec. i5 —Editor Forest and Stream: I 

 am still engaged in gathering information rt^garding the 

 birds of Long Island for use in preparing and publishing 

 a history of the avian-fauna of that section. I shall use 

 as the basis of my work the list of Lonff Island birds 

 written and published 1884 by the late J. P. Giraud, Jr. 

 His collection of specimens i^ now the property of Vassar 

 College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. I will appreciate any of 

 the facts which may be sent me about the habits, food, 

 breeding, migrations, etc., of all Long Island birds, and 

 especially desire to get specimens of such birds as rarely 

 appear on the island or are not common. For such I will 

 pay as much as marketmen or others, and will in addi- 

 tion pay the transportation charges, if sent to me by ex- 

 press at 51 Liberty street. Daring the winter months 

 many birds from the Arctic regions are liable to reach 

 Long Inland: all such 1 greatly desire, whether they are 

 laud or water birds. I will be glad to identify and name 

 any specimen seqt to me for that purpose. Correspond- 

 ence relative to Long Island birds is solicited.— Wm. 



DUTCHER. 



A Book About IraiAKS.— The Forest ajjd Stream will mall 

 freeouapplicatSoaa descriptive circular of Mr. Grinnell's book. 

 "Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-tales," giving a tabid of contents 

 stDd specimen Illustrations from the voiume.— jid». 



^mnt ^Hg mid ^mf, 



Antelojje and Deer of America. By J, D. Caton. 

 Price $£.,50. Wing and Glairs Ball Shooting tvith the 

 Rifle. By W. C. Bliss. Price 50 cents. Bine. Rod and 

 Gun in California. By T. S. Van Dyke. Price §1.50. 

 Shore Birds. Price 15 cents. Woodcraft. By "iVess- 

 muk.' Price SI. Trajectories of Hunting Rifles. Ptice 

 50 cents Wild Fowl Shooting: see advertisement. 



The txjtjl texts of the game laws of all the States, Terri- 

 tories and British Provinces are giveao in the Book of the 

 Game Laws. 



KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BIRD. 



Editor Fore.'it and Stream : 



Of the many valuable ideas received from your always 

 welcome jotirnal that brief but potent advice of a con- 

 tributor in one of your last fall editions caps the climax. 

 He said, "Keep your eye on the bird!" 



I have the misfortune to be deaf, and the strain and 

 wear on a man doing active merchandising with that 

 infirmity is very trying to nerves, temper and disposition. 



My salvation is my gun. That takes me out and away 

 from business afternoons when the business of the day is 

 about done or can be run by the boys and cashier. 



So after our noon dinner to-day "(for we are old-fash- 

 ioned people down here— breakfast at 7, dinner at 12, 

 supper at 6 or when you get home from gunning) I put 

 my old gray to the road wagon, and with gun. a few 

 shells and just two wooden block duck decoys, all I want 

 to lug over the marsh, started out, 



I am pretty sure of a duck that lights within a reason- 

 able distance, but at wing shooting I was positively 

 ashamed of myself for any one to be in sight when I tried 

 it, have looked around many a time to see if any one was 

 going to witness my trial before firing. Have not some 

 of my brother gutmers been there too? 



We make a blind here by ripping off a few boards 

 from an old fence, slanting them from the top to the 

 Trottnd and covering with seaweed or salt hay that the 

 Jucks are accustomed to see. They are about the shiest 

 of their species, and anything new they give a wide 

 berth to. 



They begin to appear between sunset and dark, with a 

 decided leaning toward the latter: and when I saw my 

 first one to-night it was time to shoot, for I could not see 

 his approach in the dusk. I remembered the advice and 

 never took my eye oft' him, but threw up my gun and the 

 instant it felt snug to my shoulder I pulled and down the 

 black duck came with a splash. I went out to him at 

 once and had some difficulty to detect him in the grass 

 of the marsh, although I marked him down. So you see 

 it was pretty dark. I had barely got beltind my sci-een 

 with him when another fellow loomed up. Again I 

 jerked my piece to my shoulder, straining my eye on the 

 duck only, fired, and down he came stone dead right at 

 the edge of the pond hole, so that I got him withotit diffi- 

 culty. 



By now it was sure enough dark, I could just distin- 

 guish the two decoys in the pond hole. Directly some- 

 thing darted across my view and plumped down a little 

 way off one side of the decoys. I could just make him 

 out. I was in the shadow of the screen 'and could not 

 see the gun barrels. My eye never left that duck, and I 

 let go, causing him to kick and splash round and round 

 until I let him have the other barrel, not taking my gun 

 down or altering my position, on one knee, and that 

 killed him. I had to leave him for I could not get to 

 hitn on account of mtid and water. 



Now, I have no impression of aiming at either of those 

 birds, that is, of sighting along the barrels, finding the 

 bird at the end of them, and taking the required space 

 ahead to have tlje shot meet them. In fact there isn't 

 time in a case like this. But instead I kept my eye right 

 on the bird and where I wanted the shot to me"et him, 

 and sure enough the connection was made every time on 

 that occasion, 



"Now tell us about the time; you 'didn't connect.'"' I 

 seem to hear the old gunners say. Well, there have been 

 lots of them, but it has baen when there was lots of light 

 and sunshine and I paid too much attention to my old 

 Itabit of sighting along the gun and to the inevitable 

 misses that we all make, and that are indispensable to 

 make the attractive uncertainty that renders the pursuit 

 of gunning ever interesting. For, when you get under 

 cover from a cold and disagreeable hunt with never a 

 duck to show for it, what makes you ready and eager the 

 very next day to try it over again? And did it ever 

 occur to you how few of us ever get sick from these ex- 

 posures, compared to the many of us who do get laid up 

 by coming out of a hot and stuffy theater and riding 

 home in a chilly car or carriage? 



I do wish more of our gunners would write their ex- 

 periences and make the "Game Bag and Gun" depart- 

 ment twice as large as it usually is. Webfoot. 

 NAffTCCKET, Mass , Dec. U. 



St, LotJis NOTES.-Dflc, 18.— Mr, Bad Weaver and 

 Darty have just returned from on eight days' hunt near 

 Bald Knob. Ark. The net result was one wild turkey, 

 Mr. Weaver wishes through Forest and Stokaji to warn 

 hunters against the socill'jd guides who will conduct 

 parties to regions where game is scarce, which was the 

 experience his party had. He says the only safe way is 

 to pay a guide a luu^p sum after he lias conducted the 

 jarty to where game abounds, then pay and discharge 

 lim. There is plenty of game in that section and the 

 above method is the safe way to get there. Wm. Har- 

 ner in a two days" trip to Sullivan. Mo., got 30 quail. A 

 party of three tried Montgomery county, this State, and 

 in there got 32 quail and a number of rabbits. ' The 

 weather has been fine for two weeks past and hunters 

 have been active. With the end of the month quail 

 shooting closes. Trap-shooting is taking a rest. There 

 is absolutely nothing on the Christmas programme, — 

 Aberdeen, 



i?«oA:# make (jooct. Jtoliifay gifts, aM givo more pl^mura ?V. 

 ■proportion to the momy expindcd than anytJmiq elss. If you 

 wcmi a good book on fthootinff, flihin//. nat'i/ral liidory. or nny 

 atker subject eonnectp I mlh oiltloor 'lifl: con-suU }i <f of /■/i.? 

 Sportsman's Library in. tJiis paper, or defter sUU. senfl for 

 Forest jUTO ^•vkb kyi' 9^ free iMuU rated catalogue of works' on 

 outdoor sports. 



