VoI 'uni XV ] Townsend, A Winter Crow Roost. 411 



January 7, a distant cawing could be heard and a minute later nine 

 Crows were seen flying off to the south, and three minutes later, 

 nine went off to the west. x\t half past six, after a great uproar of 

 caws and vks, occasional rattles and wailing ahhhs, a broad stream 

 boiled up from the roosting trees and spread off towards the west, 

 obscurely seen in the dim light except when the birds stood out 

 against the beginning red glow in the east or against the light of 

 the setting moon in the west. As I stood concealed on the hillside 

 among a grove of spruces, the Crows passed over my head, noiselessly 

 except for the silken swish of their wings, fully a thousand strong. 

 Then no more for over five minutes although the tumult in the 

 roost continued in increasing volume. At 6.40 the roost boiled 

 over again, but the birds spreading in all directions soon united 

 into a black river that flowed over the dunes to the south. The 

 settings for this black stream were the white sand dunes and the 

 luminous glow in the east which had become a brilliant crimson 

 fading to orange and yellow and cut by a broad band of pink haze 

 that streamed up to the zenith. The morning star glowed brightly 

 until almost broad daylight. The sun rose at 7.14. At 7 I 

 entered the roost and hurried away the few hundred remaining 

 birds some of whom were in the bare tops of the hardwoods ready 

 to depart, while others were still dozing in the evergreens below. 

 The air was close and smelt like a hen house. Pellets and droppings 

 were everywhere. 



On the last day of 1916, Dr. Tyler and I watched the crows 

 leaving the roost. We arrived at 6.40, too late to see the first 

 departures. From time to time we counted the birds going by in 

 the stream to the south and as our counts showed a remarkable 

 agreement they may be taken as substantially accurate. At 6.45, 

 105 passed in a minute; at 6.50, 125 passed at 6.55, 58 passed, 

 at 6.58, 121 passed and at 7.00, 63 passed. 



The Starlings left the roost at 7 o'clock and passed us with a 

 chorus of shrill cries or perhaps it was the swish of their wings that 

 we heard. They were intent on the day's hunt for food and did 

 not waste time on setting-up evolutions. At 7.13 the sun rose and 

 the roost was silent and deserted. 



In the early part of the winter there is plenty of food for the 

 Crows. The bay berry and staghorn sumac bushes, the poison 

 ivy, cat briers and red cedars are laden with their fruit. The salt 



