74 American Birds 



and fall, when he was young and growing strong, he went 

 out in the corn-field at will, but dusk always brought him 

 home. 



Is it strange that there should be bird friendships? 

 Isn't it natural and necessary that the wild creatures who 

 brave the outdoor hardships should need the encourage- 

 ment and backing of their fellows? Perhaps in the days 

 of their prosperity, in the joyous, sunny nesting time, they 

 forget their friends and past favors; but it is only for a 

 time, and the ingratitude isn't very deep. Besides, they 

 are all busy with household cares and don't miss each 

 other. But in the fall when family duties are over, and 

 parents and young are ready to begin their travels to the 

 southland, they remember that company makes the cold 

 nights a little less cheerless and shortens the miles of flight. 



There are very few of our common birds that do not 

 flock some time in the year. Some, like the water birds, 

 both of the coast and the inland, live together all the time 

 — the gulls, cormorants, pelicans, and terns. And many 

 of the land birds prefer to live together in colonies, such 

 as the swallows, blackbirds, and crows. 



The crows are very clannish at all times of the year. 

 When the season of home-building comes they sometimes 

 select a site and several pair will nest in a locality. Of 

 course, they may not be very neighborly at this time, but 

 they like to have the assurance of their kind close by. 



When the crows begin to flock the farmer feels that 

 winter is already at hand. When the first chill winds her- 

 alded the winter, and the little corn-field in the hollow 

 was but a patch of sear stalks, the black foragers of the 

 summer came trooping in to the shelter of the thick pines. 



