The Waco daily examiner. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 187?-1888, 1884-06-25
NherC the Robins ROOst.

For several weeks past large punches
of robins have been seen in the market
and inquiry revealed the fact that they
all came from the robin roost near Mr..
Mack Staffords house at Harrisburg,
where for over three weeks past. large
parties have been making nightly war
on the birds with stick and torch, We
heard great deal of talk about the
roost and the sport the people were
having in killing the birds, and rs the
s O'Clock train slowed up at Harrisburg
the other night. an Observer reporter
stepped off and struck out for the roost
Getting into long stretch of bottom
land something over mile from the
depot, the dull flaming lights ahead
pilotcd us to the roost As we neared
the scene of action we found that the
roost was in an immense cancbrake.
A party of perhaps forty darkes. be-
sides a lot Of white people. were Just
emerging with their, sticks and torches
and birds, the sport being about over
for the night. 49, .-.
The next aftefnoon about 5 O'Clock,
Mr. Stafford called us to come out into
the yard and see what was going on. and
it was sight TO astonish. From all
directions great nests of robins were
flying across the heavens, all winging
their way TO the roost, which was al
most ip plain view of the house. FoI
fully an hour one flock after another
went by, until the whole cane
brake was fairly alive with the
feathcrcd tribe, and before it
was good dark u large party set
out to make war upon them. There
were sixty-eight men and boys in the
crowd. each carrying stick
and torch or a lantern. The
roost having been reached and
action commenced, the reporter
witnessed a scene that he never will
forget. The canebrakc is about a mile
long, and extends considerable dis
tance on either side OF The crtck. 1t
seemed that each individual cane was
bent down with it, load of birds The
reporter. getting just inside the edge of
the brake. struck at Il cluster of birds.
and the iiuttcr OF wings that cnsucd
was deafening. From all sides hun
dreds of blinded and bcwidcrcd birds
flew about, striking against each other
and against canes, making noise that
rcscmbled u mighty wind. All through
the brakes torches CLEANED men
shouted. and the deadly stick was going
right and left The birds never left
the brake, but flew about in dire confu-
sion. unable to escape the weapons III
the hands of the men who piled them
for about an hour with terrible
effect. In the excitement of the battle
hardly anybody stopped hong enough to
,,i,l. III ha slain Iiyls hi,t
over their routes when the sport was
ended to gather their game, oar party
went into the brakes at seven O'Clock,
and at eight all We're counting over
their birds that lay in piles at each
ones feet. A young man named
Query was the most successful, having
killed one hundred and iitty-siX. The
lowest number killed by any one person
was fortv-sevcn. The total number of
robins killed by the party in one hour
footed up two thousand one hundred
and ten. This was on Friday night OF
last week. The nightly battles on
these birds have been constantly going
on for fully three weeks. and yet the
number OF robins that swarm the rooSt
docs not seem To abate. The birds
flock there from the adjoining counties,
and ii is on the whole, the most re-
markablc robin roost ever known in
this section of the country, atlordng
such sport as is not INDUCED in more
than once in u lifetime. - CAarloh
(N ~ OdScrCcy.