on then
covered much less than a quarter of the circuit; so that if the birds
came as freely from other directions, at least five thousand must have
entered the wood between 6.30 and 7.30. As long as it was light they
avoided passing directly by me, going generally to the left, and
slipping into the roost behind some low outlying trees; though,
fortunately, in doing this they were compelled to cross a narrow patch
of the illuminated western sky. I suspect that the number increases from
night to night. Between 6.40 and 7.30, 1235 birds came, as compared
with 1072 last evening."

Two days afterward (July 31st) I went to the western end of the wood,
and found the influx there much smaller than on the opposite side; but I
arrived late, and made a partial count only. After sunset 186 birds were
seen, whereas there had been 455 entries at the eastern end, two nights
before, during the same time.

Thus far I had always been too late to witness the beginning of the
flight. On the evening of August 1st I resolved to be in season. I
reached the border of the pond at 5.15, and at that very moment a single
robin flew into the wood. No others were seen for eighteen minutes, when
three arrived together. From this time stragglers continued to appear,
and at 6.30 I had counted 176. In the next ten minutes 180 arrived; in
the next five minutes, 138. Between 6.45 and 7, I counted 549; then, in
six minutes, 217 appeared. At 7.25, when I concluded, the figures stood
at 1533 birds. For about twenty minutes, as will be noticed, the
arrivals were at the rate of thirty-six a minute. Throughout the
thickest of the flight I could keep a lookout upon only one side of me,
and, moreover, the gathering darkness was by that time making it more
and more difficult to see any birds except such as passed above the dark
tree line; and from what went on just about me, it was evident that the
number of arrivals was increasing rather than diminishing as my count
fell off. There seemed to be no good reason for doubting that at least
two thousand robins entered the wood at the eastern end.

Two nights later I stationed myself in the meadow southwest of the
roost. Here I counted but 935 entries. The movement appeared to be fully
as steady as on the opposite side, but as darkness came on I found
myself at a great disadvantage; a hill occupied the background, giving
me no illuminated sky to bring the birds into relief, so that I could
see only such as passed c