^S&f 1 ] Davis, Crows and their Roosts. 22C) 



the Fresh Kill. On the 24th it was cloudy and showered occa- 

 sionally and the Crows commenced flying to New Jersey at 3 

 p. m. The 25th, on the contrary, was a bright sunny day, and 

 the first Crows did not start until 3.30 p. m. On this last 

 occasion I counted 303 Crows flying over at right angles to the 

 Turnpike and thence over Chelsea and Dongan Island, like a 

 long straggling caravan following an aerial highway. 



They do not take exactly the same path always ; occasionally 

 some follow the Kill, as has been stated above, and those that fly 

 across the Neck are governed considerably by the direction of 

 the wind. One blustery day in February Mr. Walter Granger 

 and I watched the first Crows fly over the Neck, drop close to 

 the fields in order to avoid the force of the north wind, and 

 finally fly along Chelsea Creek to New Jersey. The birds that 

 followed flew by a more circuituous route, keeping among the 

 scattered timber and thus avoiding the full strength of the gale. 



Again, all of the Crows that fly westward from the beach do 

 not cross Long Neck or follow the Kill to the roost situated north 

 or northwest of the island, but a few continue along the high 

 ground from Armadale to Kreischerville, and are apparently 

 bound for a roost that lies beyond the Raritan. On calm days 

 they may be watched for miles with a glass, as they fly sky high 

 on their journey. 



[n the severe winter of 1892-93, Crows not only came from 

 the New Jersey roosts already mentioned, but they also came to 

 the South Beach from the roost at Sandy Hook. They went 

 long distances for food and no doubt many died. Mr. Robert 

 Ridgway, in 'Science' for February 10, 1S93, tells of the sufferings 

 of the Crows in a roost near Washington, D. C, stating that 

 many had their eyes frozen, which was followed by the bursting 

 of the organs and the death of the birds from starvation. 



On the afternoon of the. 22d of January, 1893, many Crows 

 were noticed near the foot of New Drop lane. Some of these 

 birds flew westward in the direction of Fresh Kill, while several 

 hundred flew over the water to Sandy Hook. The chief depart- 

 ure was about 4 p. m. At fifteen minutes past four they had 

 nearly all gone, but I observed a few belated individuals fly 

 boldly from the Staten Island shore near the light house, without 

 any rest previous to undertaking their long journey. Thus many 



