47 



The best way to judge of the extent of the corvine 

 population of a town is to take up a position on the roof 

 of the most lofty house in the place, just as the sun 

 is about to sink below the horizon, and, from this 

 point of vantage, watch the crows as they wend 

 their way homeward after the labours of the day. 



Crows, although the sworn enemies of man, like to 

 roost in his vicinity. The crows of a locality sleep 

 in colonies on trees preferably near human habita- 

 tions. During the day they spread themselves over a 

 considerable area, but at eventide they all return to 

 their roosting place. 



I once watched the home-coming of the crows 

 from the roof of a house situated on a hillock in the 

 little station of Rajahmundry on the Godaveri river. 

 For the greater part of an hour the birds returned in 

 several continuous streams. Such numbers arrived 

 simultaneously that I found it impossible to count 

 them. However it is no exaggeration to say that upon 

 that particular evening some ten thousand crows 

 flew over my head. 



Some came in from the river banks, others re- 

 turned from the islets and sandbanks which stud 



