Jones — On Birds of Cedar Point. 31 



migration movements. I tlonbt if there is an.v migration in eitlier 

 the Oljerlin or Vermillion quadrangle. 



135. Co7-nis Jyrachyrhyvclws. — Crow. 



Common from March to December ; present in small numbers all 

 winter in favorable localities. -A distinct northward migration oc- 

 curs with the first sure signs of spring, and a southward migration 

 about the first of November, or with the first really cold weather. 

 An extensive winter roost has been reported to me in a consider- 

 ble woods south of Lorain, but I have been unable to verify it. 

 Certainly the birds are not sufficiently numerous in winter to ac- 

 count for the numbers reported as resorting to the roost. On three 

 occasions I have been fortunate enough to happen into the midst of 

 great migrations. The first was prior to detailed records before me ; 

 the others March 12. 1002. and March 7, 1003. The birds were mov- 

 ing eastward parallel to the lake shore over an area more than half 

 a mile in width and from a few feet above the ground to a height of 

 300 feet. The migrating stream was almost continuous from 9 a. m., 

 when I arrived at the lake shore, and was still in progress unabated 

 when I left at 4 :20 p. m. Most of the birds had reached the shore 

 at some distance west of my point of observation, but some were 

 coming from the south to swell the host. A number of counts of 

 the birds passing a given point were made at widely different times, 

 which resulted in an average of 130 birds passing per minute. There 

 were thus over 50.000 passing during the period of my stay. One 

 might be pardoned for entertaining some curiosity about their des- 

 tination and why they preferred the long .journey around the east 

 end of Lake Erie rather than the short flight directly across, al- 

 ways provided they were Canadians returning to the land of their 

 birth. One pair nested near the Lake Laboratory in the spring of 

 1907. but I saw no evidence of an.v nesting the following year. 

 Crows visited the lake beach regularly all summer, where they fed 

 upon the fishes thrown up b.v the waves. I have never witnessed 

 any other migration of Crows along the point than small flocks fly- 

 ing either westward or eastward, which did not have the appear- 

 ance of regular migration flights. 



It is not stated definitely by Taverner and Swales that on Octo- 

 ber 14-15, 190G, the Crows were seen flying southward toward the 

 Ohio shore from Point Pelee, but one might so infer. I was on the 

 sand spit all day of the 15th and failed to see any of the Crows 

 coming over the lake, although there were considerable numbers 

 along shore and inland. If any considerable company had arrived 

 anywhere between Huron and Cedar Point I would surely have 

 seen them. 



