Crows 53 
owls were very numerous, and I have reasons for 
believing that they frequently visited the roost at 
night. Hunters take advantage of the roosting habits 
of crows and station themselves along the various 
routes leading to the roost, killing and wounding 
several in a single day; often, too, they make attacks 
upon the crows after they have settled quietly for the 
night. Usually several hunters combine for a night 
attack, and the net results may be two or three hundred 
crows killed, and perhaps as many more wounded. 
Crow roosts are less frequent now than in the 
days of Audubon, or even before. The destruction 
of the forests has probably had considerable to do 
with lessening the crow population, while within the 
past twenty-five years the millinery trade has used 
thousands of crows’ wings. However, just at present 
the demand for crows’ wings is not so great as it was 
a few years ago. 
The question has often been asked, “Why do crows 
form roosts at all?’’ There have been several answers 
to this question, none of which I believe to be quite 
satisfactory. By some it is supposed that the birds 
collect for warmth, and for protection from their 
enemies; by others, that the particular places 
selected as roosts afford better perching facilities 
for the long winter nights. On the contrary, I believe 
