from their favorite localities, would usually follow a mild, open Winter, 

 when the birds stayed with us all Winter, roaming around the farming dis- 

 tricts in large numbers, but disappearing as the breeding season approach- 

 ed. Some Winters they stay throifghout, and some seasons they breed 

 here, but they seem to lack that fondness for a certain locality, a return 

 to which, Spring after Spring, is characteristic of so many of the smaller 

 birds." [In the East, the evidence tends to prove that the Crow will 

 become attached to a certain locality and will nest in the immediate 

 neighborhood year after year ; however they are not so constant nor 

 stubborn as our larger Hawks and Owls, nor as persistent as our Warb- 

 lers, Thrushes, etc., but as a rule will speedily move their quarters if 

 robbed a few times. — F. L. B.] 



W. Harvey McNairn, Toronto, Canada. — "In the Spring or late Win- 

 ter, just about pairing time, the Crows are here in immense numbers. 

 Sometimes one can see a flock of several hundred. I am of the opinion 

 that Crows from all parts of the country come here to spend the Winter. 

 There is plenty of brush, nearly two hundred acres in a park, where they 

 are protected ; but comparatively few stay through nesting time. Some- 

 time ago I found an old Crow^ that had become blind, and afterward heard 

 of several other similar cases ; judging from the fuss the others made and 

 the birds sleek appearance, he had been fed by his comrades." [Doubt- 

 less the cause of the bird's blindness can be attributed to the excessive 

 coldness. Several instances were reported last Winter (during a very cold 

 spell) of Crows having their eve-balls frozen and bursted. in Chester 

 County, Pa. — F. L. B.] 



Reuben M. Strong, Wauwatosa. Wis. — " For several years the Crows 

 had a roost in a tract of timber near here, occupying it during late Win- 

 ter and early Spring. In the Spring of iS8q this roost was changed to a 

 grove of conifers on the northern side of the bluff. Several hundred 

 Crows gather at this roost at one time, and in their present location 

 greatly disturb the patients in the sanitarium on the same bluff. A few- 

 spend the Winter here, but the bulk does not appear until after the middle 

 of March. Old settlers say that birds of this species were comparatively 

 rare thirty years ago They seem to be increasing in numbers. Civili- 

 zation seems to favor them by furnishing them with an abundance of 

 food, and their habits render them comparatively free from its dangers." 



John C. Brown. Carthage, Mo. —" Nests are often found in maple 

 groves, the birds nesting in colonies of six to a dozen pairs. The nest is 

 usually so large that the female cannot be seen from below, while incu- 

 bating. There are from two to six eggs in a set ; in one case seven eggs 

 were found. In this instance, two females must have deposited their eggs 



