SAM BLACK 215 



miles gather every night to roost. These roosts are often 

 pieces of thick timber that cover a hundred or more acres. 

 Trees that do not shed their leaves until spring are pre- 

 ferred for this purpose. I have visited one such roost and 

 it was not unusual to see scores of crows in a single tree 

 while it was an exception to find a tree in which they were 

 not roosting. They continued to arrive till late at night, 

 sometimes flying miles to reach this place. With the first 

 break of dawn they begin to scatter to the fields to feed, 

 usually going back to the neighborhood where they had 

 been reared. 



Sam began to grow uneasy as the winter wore on, and 

 would frequently fly a mile or two with a flock of crows 

 that were on the way to a roost in East Central Iowa. 

 But strong as was the desire to know what was going on in 

 the roost and to have a part in the council of the race he 

 reluctantly came back to spend the night in the old willow 

 tree in the yard. After a few days of this uneasiness, we 

 came to feel there was no danger of his leaving, but one 

 night early in February he failed to come home. Next 

 morning he was on hand, however, begging for his break- 

 fast. This went on for a few days, when he began to bring 

 other birds home with him. They did not come to the 

 house to beg for food, but they helped themselves from 

 the corn crib and the chicken house. It was soon evident 

 that this could not be tolerated; we could not feed every 

 stray crow that Sam took it into his head to invite home 

 for breakfast. 



There was one crow, doubtless a female, which was 

 clearly a favorite with Sam. Shall I say she was his sweet- 

 heart? At any rate they often sat near each other in the 

 orchard and jabbered in crow fashion, she each day grow- 



