n8 Bird-Lore • present anything like the grand spectacle they will later in the year, when migration sends millions of them to this marsh. The sun is up now, and a little wind is stirring and dispels the clamni}' dampness of the air. Shortbills sing on all sides, and a few Marylands and Henslows are also heard to sing. Great Blue Herons are on the move, and the Marsh Hawk is at work. A Bittern wings its way across the marsh, attended by a committee of inquisitive young Eaves. There is a peculiar movement now among the Swal- lows. They seem to concentrate their forces. Let us follow them, and be treated to an unexpected sight. Fifty thousand Eave Swallows are seated on the protruding tops of sunflowers, which grow here among the spartina in restricted areas, cov- ering a few acres in the middle of the marsh ! They sit, several on one plant, as close together as the branches and their weight allow. We draw nearer, until we are within twenty 3'ards of the assembly. The birds must see us, but do not mind, and we have excellent opportunity to watch them. Their numbers are still swelling. The long, narrow, ridge-like stretch of sunflowers is filling up more and more. From the north comes a steady flow of Eaves, all bound for the con- vention. It is now 6 A. M. ; the influx of arrivals from the north has ceased, and all seem ready for the opening of the session ; but they do not look as if they were going to transact important business. Some fly up from time to time, draw a few circles and sit down again. Most of them look tired, as if they had already performed a most fatiguing task. The majority are young fellows, all Eaves, in pale attire, some so small as if not fully grown ; but there are also many adults in high dress among them. All are enjoying their rest, some are preening their feathers, others half close their eyes and puff up their plumage, as if going to sleep. There are still some high up in the ether enjoying their enviable wing power ; others are hunting low over the marsh, in company with Whitebreasts. Although the two species hunt, fl}' and roost together, the}' do not hold their meetings together. The Whitebreasts' assemblages are held over water. They betake themselves to a pond or lake, and find a perch on the pods, stalks and projecting leaves of the lotus {Nclumbo liitea), with which some of these shallow waters of the marsh are literally covered. There is a small pond only a quarter of a mile from the sunflower patch, and this is now just full of Whitebreasts. Now and then a little cloud of them rises from the pond, and after a few evolutions settles down again. There are only a few hundred ; the height of their autumnal wandering is several weeks behind that of the Eaves. These are most numerous in late
