18 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-No. 2 



roost and on the sand where they gather. These 

 pellets sliow that very tow mice enter the Vjill 

 of fare of the Crow. Hut they also prove that 

 tlie Crow has no stomach for grain. Large 

 pieces of niai/.c, and entire kernels of oats and 

 wheat are thrown out indigested, and even the 

 acorn, which nuisl often appease tlieii- hun- 

 ger, is found intact in the pellets. 



The Crow eats anything and evcrytliiug, 

 when pressed by hunger, but it prefers animal 

 matter, and it makes no dilVcrcnce whether it is 

 fresh or old. It turns around the old droppings 

 of the cattle to see if there is anything eatable 

 underneath. It devoui'S a rotten apple for a 

 change of diet, and eats the chicken without 

 asking how long it has liceu dead oi' w illi what 

 disease it died. 



When they are so lucky as to lind the dead 

 body of a horse, they return to it every day 

 until the bones are perfectly clean. 1 have 

 oven heard of the remarkable sight, when the 

 cadaver of a man was seen driving down on an 

 ice field, surrounded and torn to pieces by hords 

 of crows. 



The Crow likes our clinnite, because wc have 

 as a rule very little snow. The snow which 

 precedes our cold si)ells comes with a high 

 wind, and is therefore drifted. Snow which 

 falls heavily later in the season does not stay 

 long. After afresh snowfall, or during a sud- 

 den cold snap, the Crow's resource is the river. 

 For miles and udles along its shores crows 

 abound, watching at the water's edge, visiting 

 the sandbars and hovering over the river, fish- 

 ing from its surf.ace choice morsels with which 

 they make hastily for a safe place to eat in 

 peace. 



The most anim.-iled picture is to be had in 

 times when the river is full of lloatiug ice. .\t 

 such times it is f.-iirly alive with crows all day. 

 Sitting on the edge (d' lloating ice fields, they 

 drift down for mib's, watching the agitated 

 waves until they bring to light the eagerly 

 sought for dainty in the shape of a rosy lung or 

 sinnlar succulency. When such an article has 

 been found, it is accompanied lor manj' miles 

 by troops of hungry crows, and the crowning 

 event takes place when the Hald lOagle joins the 

 revelers and gets the lion's share. 



In former years. Herring gulls were not un. 

 connuon at such feasts, but of late they seem to 

 get (piite scarce around here. 



In very hard winters, when the river remains 

 solidly frozen for some time, the crows are very 

 mucli less numerous, but as soon as the snow 

 begins to go they return, and when the ice 

 breaks up they are back in full force. 



From the middle of September when they 

 first appear at the roost, until the middle of 

 October, the increase is slow. The last decade of 

 October and the first of November is tlie time 

 when the bulk of crows arrive at the roost. 



Cool, still days, with gloomy skies and misty 

 air. bring tliem from the Xorth in loose, strag- 

 gling flights, from dill'crent directions, but fall- 

 ing into line north of the city, they pass around 

 its western bounds near Shaw's garden, and 

 thence in a straight line towards tiie foot of the 

 Island where they arrive in a regular stream, 

 which pours in some days from 1 or 2 p. m., un- 

 til <lark. 



On arriving above the river the Crow ceases 

 beating the air, and instead of flapping heavily 

 along as usual, it spreads its wings and floats 

 down majestically towards the Island where it 

 tii'stgocs for water and then for a perch in the 

 trees. This perch is often changed before the 

 final selection is made. Cottonwoods and wil- 

 lows twenty to thirty feet high are chosen, and 

 a dozen or iTiore find a place in a single tree. 



When the November sun has set, the trees on 

 the lower part of the Island arc black witli 

 crows, and the noise they make and which they 

 keep up until ([uite dark is heard for miles 

 around. Before the snn is nji in the moruiug 

 the crows leave the roost, but the noise may be 

 heard long before daybreak, and does not cease 

 until they have left. In open weather in fall, 

 hardly any Crow is seen at the roost all the fore- 

 noon. The place looks deserted. The crows 

 have gone, and the first rays of the sun find 

 them scattered over hundreds of square miles. 

 We may go out any direction within twenty 

 nnles of St. Louis, but we see crows winging 

 their way to some distant feeding ground, scat- 

 tering as they procceil, spreading over fields 

 and woods, but enlivening the scenery where- 

 ever they appear. 



They seem to do most of their feeding in the 

 morning. In tlie early afternoon they begin to 

 collect into flocks, and large congregations may 

 lie seen in many places, passing the time play- 

 fully until ready to go home, when flock joins 

 flock, trying to keep track if wind and weather 

 permit. On clear still days, they fly at great 

 heights. A gale throws them far out of theii' 

 beaten (lath and they fly as low as possible, 

 seeking shelter from the wind behind woods 

 and liuildings, and following as much as pos- 

 sible the lowest depressions of the ground. 



They first appear at tlie roost soon after mid- 

 day, but the majority arrive within an hour 

 before sunset; coiniiaratively few come later. 



It is not seldom to see them carry food in 



