Whee AUDUBON < BU CEN 37 
Photograph by C. H. Tanner 
MARTINS 
Over four hundred birds settled upon the roof of the gymnasium at the University 
of Illinois. 
I watched the martins several evenings and I estimated there were 
400 to 500 in the flock, and, in addition, the trees of the forestry were 
literally loaded with roosting blackbirds, robins, catbirds, and many 
others that could not be identified because of the darkness. “Che commo- 
tion and chatter was so great that two people could hardly hear each other 
talk. Blackbirds could be seen coming in from all directions in large flocks. 
I returned to the gymnasium again on the evening of August 14 for 
pictures of the martins. It was clear and there was a large collection 
of birds. After this date the flock of martins grew smaller and smaller. 
I presume they were heading south, because they had a long way to 
travel, to winter in the jungles of Brazil. 
On August 27 I went over to see how the martins were, and there 
was none; they had all gone south. 
Urbana, Illinois. 
