ORNITHOLOGIST 



— AND — 



OOLOGIST. 



The Crows' Winter Roost at St. 

 Louis. 



1(V IITTO WIDMAXN. 



St. Louis li.i.- iiiaiiy sights woi-tti scriiii;', all 

 more or less know n anil appreeialeil, but one of 

 its greatest natural euriosities, the big roost of 

 wintering crows on .Vrsen.il Island, where 

 thousands and perhaps a hundred of thousand' 

 crows congregate, is never mentioned. 



The Crow is a conituon suinmor resident in 

 this part of tiie country. Kverj' grove has its 

 pair nesting, and around their favorite feeding 

 grounds a dozen crows may be seen together 

 any day during the breeding season. To these 

 places the young resort when able to Hy, and 

 parties of thirty or so are nothing unusual in 

 summer, ofteuer or sooner heard than seen, 

 especially when the presence of a hawk excites 

 their hatred. 



In the neigborhood of their winter roost, they 

 are not seen in any unusual numbers before the 

 middle of September. The river front of St. 

 Louis is sixteen miles long. The centre of the 

 city with the courthouse is about half way of 

 this long line. Four miles south of the court- 

 house, down the river, is the head of an island, 

 called .\rsenal Island (formerly Smallpox Is- 

 land, because during the civil war the smallpox 

 hospital was situated on this island). 



At that time the head of the island was oppo- 

 site the St. Louis Arsenal, and for that rea.sou 

 the nam(- of Arsenal Island was given. At the 

 present day the island l)egius one mile south of 

 the Arsenal, h.iving been washed oil' continually 

 at its head until about live years ago, when it 

 was fixed by strong embankments erected by 

 the government. At the same time, in order to 

 force tlie current to the Missouri side, the is- 

 land was connected with the Illitiois shore by 

 a dam which obstructed the flow of water so 

 much that the old channel east of the island 

 is nearly dry now in summer, and willows be- 



gin to grow in many pl.ices. The island is 

 therefore steadily growing; it is two miles long, 

 one-fourth mile wide, mostly grown up with 

 willows and cotton woods, from twenty-five 

 years old at its present head, where the flora is 

 already more varied by admixture of shrubs 

 and cliniliers, to one year old and entirely new 

 growth at its recent additions. The foot of the 

 island is a sandbank, changeable in size accord- 

 ing to the stage of water, at the present low 

 water about half a mile long, and reaching to 

 the Illinois shore in the vicinity of the Bes.se- 

 nier Steel Works. 



The island is not inhabited except by a single 

 old man, who keeps a few cows in summer and 

 tries to raise a little corn for their feed. He 

 does not molest any of its feathered visitors, 

 but the island is a much frequented shooting 

 ground for boy hunters who make it very un- 

 safe on Sundays. 



This island has been chosen by the crows for 

 their winter roost, and during the fifteen years 

 in which I lived in the neighborhood, I have 

 seen them regularly every winter. 



The reason why the crows selected this island 

 seems to be the convenient position in regard to 

 food supply coupled with comparative safety 

 from nightly raids. 



The food supply is twofold : On the land, the 

 environs of a large city surrrounded by gar- 

 dens and dairies and pastures, etc. 



On the water, the rich harvest provided by 

 the dumping places of the city which throws 

 its garbage into the river to carry it ofl". 



The crow is the typical scavenger, and the 

 choice of its winter roost proves it. If it could 

 live on corn and mice, it would spend the win- 

 ter hawk-fashion, in solitude around some out 

 of the way corn field, or would scatter in small 

 troops broadcast over the country. 



It is no mice destroyer. Neither is it a grain 

 eater. I have examined thousands of pellets 

 (the indigestible parts of food thrown up), 

 whicii are lying under the trees where they 



Copyright, 1888, by F. H. Cabpentee and F. B. Webstee. 



