Feb. 1888.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



19 



their bill to the roost, iintUlilVereiil kiiiils of nuts 

 ami acorns, piofos of meat and even hones may 

 be found on the sandbank. 



As lou«; as the weather remains mild the Crow 

 sleeps in these places, but when the sharp 

 North winds strip the trees of their leaves, 

 the trees lose much of their attraction for the 

 crows, and lliey be^in to spend the nighls on 

 the sand which fjirdles the island. 



In November, comparatively tew crows re- 

 sort to the sand, but when in December a spell 

 of zero sweeps over the island, most of tlu-ni 

 remain on the ground, covering the vast sand- 

 bar at the foot of the island with innumerable 

 black dots, and as many more again stay on the 

 large ice Held which stretches now along the 

 shallow I'astern shore like :i eoiil iiuinlioii of (lie 

 sandbar. 



Here they are on the l)are ice from 1 p. ni. 

 till 7 a. m., tift<'en long hours, with tempera- 

 ture near zero, exposed to the tierce wind with- 

 out any shelter at all. Mow they can stand it, 

 is more than 1 know, and although I have found 

 frozen crows and crows witli stiunped toes as 

 reminiscences of former experiences, I still be- 

 lieve, as a rule, they stand the rigors of our 

 winter quite well. The first sunny mild day, 

 and immediately after the coldest spells, the 

 crow thinks of courting, and shows all signs of 

 an amorous crow whose love is not by our tem- 

 peratures refrigerated. 



This courting is done openly, in broad day- 

 light, socially, gracefully. Tiie crows gather 

 on a sunny hillside or some similarly favorable 

 place, talk to each othei- in the softest crow 

 language, one by one. flies straight up into the 

 air, soars for a moment, floats gracefully ilown, 

 cheered by the rest, amidst which it alights to 

 see others do what he did. 



As soon as the weallier becomes mild an<l the 

 ground free from snow and ice, the crows b(!- 

 gin to disperse. This is generally not before 

 February, and sometimes quite late in that 

 month, but by the middle of March their ranks 

 are thinned out very much, an<l few are left 

 after the first of April. Generally, their depar- 

 ture is not particularly noticed, it being a con- 

 tinuation of their daily flight, tailing to return 

 to the roost in the evening. 



Hut sometimes I have seen two birds flying 

 together in a northerly direction, even in the 

 afternoon, and right against the incoming 

 stream of crows. These 1 take for absconders, 

 ready to dispense with sociability, the two be- 

 ing enough company by themselves. With the 

 beginning of the lireeding season, tlie history of 

 the common roost ends. We do not now fol- 



low them into the sylvan retreats where they 

 raise a big family. Let us hope that all will re- 

 turn to us in the fall, bringing with them- 

 selves a great army of jolly young crows. In- 

 teresting would it be to learn if other cities ou 

 the lower Missouri and Mississippi have similar 

 roosts. Omaha, Kjuis.is City, Cairo. Louis- 

 \ille, Memphis, are probably like favored. 



Nesting Habits of the Broad- 

 winged Hawk. 



HV .1. W. I'ltKSTON. 



In biddi'U retfeats, where the tanglcil wilder- 

 ness of lakes and forests guards in lonely si- 

 lence the streams wliicli feed the Red lliver of 

 the Ndith in Minnesota, I found the Uroad- 

 winged Hawk ( Hitlin penn:<iilvaui(:i(s), breeding 

 abundantly. 



At home with the lianeddwl, and uinnolest- 

 ed by stealthy tread of wild cat or lynx, he is 

 ill this region indeed a" bird of the wilder- 

 ness." 



lie chooses the heavy, close woods about 

 small lakes, where food is abundant and shelter 

 near, and where he may hide himself. Here he 

 may be seen hurrying to and fro over the 

 water, or ilarting up along the shore, to glide as 

 iiuickly out of sight iu the woods. My oppor- 

 tunities for studying the habits of this interest- 

 ing bird have been excellent during the pait 

 two seasons, while 1 was camping out in those 

 unfre(|uented wilds; and from their inquisitive 

 ways .-md lack of fear at human presence, I 

 have come to admire them almost as much as 

 ail}- of their kind. 



The Broail-wing, though i-apable of daring 

 dash(^s of lliglit, is visually content to seek his 

 food i|uietly under cover of the woods. Some- 

 what sluggish, he will permit a very close ap- 

 proach, and treiiuently 1 have passed directly 

 beneath the branch on which one sat eyeing me 

 curiously, much as the Barred Owl will do. 

 One morning, while passing along a timber 

 road, my attention was attracted !)}■ the cries of 

 a pair of Ited-eyed Vircos, and upon investi- 

 gation, the cause of the diflieulty proved to be 

 a male l5i-oad Wing, which had straj'ed too near 

 their quarters, and now sat confused at their 

 scolding. My approacli was not noticed until 

 I had come within teu paces of him. 



Melanism in this species is rare. The one 

 example taken by tile writer on the shores of 

 Crystal Lake, Northern Iowa, on May •'(, 1886, is 

 the (udy occurrence so far as known, save the two 



