2 THE VAUD Ur BO NS BLU eee aes 
usual place. I made three trips and after making inquiries learned 
that they were not gathering there this year. 
On August 9th, I investigated a report that the birds were 
gathering in Lincoln Park near the old Viking ship. This time I was 
not disappointed for the martins were there in great numbers. 
While driving north on Ridge Avenue I noticed a yreat many 
martins in the air over the Edgewater Country Club at Ridge and 
Pratt Boulevard. The next evening, August 14th, I went to the Club 
and located the roost in a group of willows on the golf course. It was 
the largest flock I had ever seen and I decided then and there to 
return early the next evening to witness the gathering from the time 
the birds started to come in until they settled down for the night. 
This proved to be an interesting experience and well worth any 
one’s time. 
Without stopping for dinner, I went directly to the martin roost 
and took up a station near the willows where I had an unobstructed 
view of the sky in all directions. The time was five-fifteen and not a 
martin in sight. An hour went by and I began to feel foolish for not 
having had my dinner, not that it mattered so much to me but I had 
brought my son, Don, who is fifteen with the usual appetite of a grow- 
ing boy. As we were near the 13th hole we divided our time between 
watching the golfers and the great flock of robins and starlings that 
swarmed over the fairway searching for insects in the short grass. 
At six-forty three martins appeared flying quite high and passed 
out of sight to the south. At seven the nighthawks came out in some 
numbers and entertained us with their erratic flight as they swooped 
low, sometimes within a foot of the ground. Small flocks of starlings 
began gathering at seven-ten in a group of four Carolina poplars. 
Then larger flocks of one hundred or more came from every point of 
the compass until the tops of the trees were a mass of birds. 
I was beginning to think the martins had left for the south when 
at seven-twenty a large flock came in, circled over the willows, and 
a few birds alighted on the top branches. At seven-thirty two more 
flocks circled overhead. During the next ten minutes great flocks came 
pouring in from every direction until they looked like flies around a 
molasses barrel. 
It was too dark for golf now and we were alone with the birds. Mr. 
Dearie, the custodian of the grounds, noticing our interest, came over 
and introduced himself. We learned that he was very much interested 
in birds in general and that he had put up six martin houses near the 
club house and maintains feeding stations for other birds. Mr. Dearie 
said the birds had been gathering on the golf course for the past three 
years and pointed out a dead willow in the center of the roost which 
had been struck by lightning about this time (August 15th) last year, 
shortly after the martins had gone to roost. He showed us a Ford 
dump truck which hauls a yard and a half of soil and said the men 
had filled this truck with dead birds the next day. A few robins and 
starlings were among the martins. On the golf course there are two 
