Robin roost
MASS. (Middlesex) [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
1875. Aug. 4 - 1875
Aug 4 [August 4, 1875] Clear and warm. We are now fairly into the
dog days. The weather is not so exceedingly
hot, as oppressively sticky. It usually
rains once or twice each day - showers
that fail to cool the air but leave it
sometimes even more [delete]sticky[/delete] unendurable
than before, and everything fairly steaming.
The cicada is now in full blast and the
crickets are tuning up already for
the grand Sept. [September] chorus. A few birds have
come down from the N. [North] and some of ours
have departed. Hummingbirds are getting
very abundant and are undoubtedly N. [northern]
birds as very few bred here this season. I
see them frequently in the swamps, and
Maynard has shot a dozen or so in a bed
of flocks [phlox] on their place. The blink of the
bobolink, now collected in autumnal flocks,
I hear every night and also the faint lisp
of an occasional warbler. Late this P.M. went
up to "Block is" [Block Island] [delete]late in the P.M.[/delete] and
stayed till dark, watching the flight of
birds into the maple swamp where they have
for years roosted. For the space of two
hours there was a steady stream pouring
in from all directions and distances.
At 6 P.M. the flight commenced, Quis.
aeneus [Quiscalus quiscula aeneus], Aeg. phoeniceus [Agelaius phoeniceus], and Molothrus pecoris
coming in flocks of from 50 to 200. At 7 P.M.
these three species ceased flying and the
robins commenced, and continued till
it was nearly too dark to distinguish their
forms against the sky. A few swallows
(H. horreorum [Hirundo horreorum] et riparia [Hirundo riparia]) also flew in and
went to roost among the others. I calculated