6 Massachusetts Audubon Society 



AS THE CROWS FLY. 



Mr. Edward Marsh, of Dedham, sends us the following very interesting 

 account of a great flight of crows: 



Thursday, the first day of November of this year, I was motoring late 

 in the afternoon just south of Marlboro and north of Nobscot Hill, in the 

 vicinity of the Metropolitan Water Works system which comes down between 

 the hills in that section. As I came upon one of the long ponds, I looked 

 down it several miles across to the country far beyond and saw literally 

 thousands of crows headed to the northwest of Marlboro across this pond, 

 and for miles from the opposite direction, northeasterly, came more crows 

 in thousands. . . . 



After motoring some miles down the road I saw more of them coming 

 from Nobscot Hill and Framingham, and as we went in a southwesterly 

 direction I saw more still coming. At first I thought the crows were having 

 a fall convention, and decided they must have come impelled by some 

 mysterious impulse from all sections of the country, so vast was the flock. 

 Upon stopping and talking with a farmer in that neighborhood, I learned 

 that this thing has been going on for years in that section, and he said that 

 the sky was black with them morning and night. They apparently come 

 out of the northwest in the morning and flood the low lands to the south 

 in the same manner that the Huns are doing on foreign soil, and I imagine 

 in their way commit as serious depredation. 



This is the first experience of the kind I have ever had in New England, 

 and I have been pretty well over it at all seasons of the year, and have seen 

 small flocks and several hundreds together, but nothing like this, and to 

 learn that this was a normal and natural flocking morning and night to the 

 fields of plunder and back to their roosts was a very interesting piece of 

 news, and I forward it to you for such use as you may make of it. 



Perhaps you may have seen the same thing take place in this section. 

 It certainly would be interesting to me to know if you, or any of our mem- 

 bers, have seen such a sight or had such an experience hereabouts. 



BIRDS HAVE CANCER. 



Mr. A. W. Morse, Local Secretary for Hudson, sends the following 

 very interesting item: 



A few days ago Miss Learned presented me with a nice specimen of 

 White Throated Sparrow which she found dead on her porch. In skinning 

 the bird I found on one leg near the knee a yellowish something on the 

 muscles, then another on muscle of wing near shoulder, and still another 

 at base of beak between eyes. I became suspicious and consulted my neigh- 

 bor, who is an M. D., and he pronounced it a typical case of "Sarcoma," a 

 quick-acting form of cancer identical with the one found in the human body 

 at times. 



About two weeks ago Miss Learned gave me an olive-backed thrush. 

 A friend found it on the road. Both mandibles were broken just in front 

 of the eyes. I have seen many birds during past few years in very much the 

 same condition. There is no doubt in my mind that all these birds were 

 killed by wires. It would not be interesting — it would be discouraging — 

 if we knew the number of birds killed by wires annually. 



