122 RAMBLES OF 



by every one who wishes to form a proper idea of the 

 number of these birds, that may be accumulated in a single 

 district. The roost is most commonly the densest pine 

 thicket that can be found, generally at no great distance 

 from some river, bay, or other sheet of water, which is 

 the last to freeze, or rarely is altogether frozen. To such 

 a roost, the crows, which are, during the day-time, 

 scattered over perhaps more than a hundred miles of cir- 

 cumference, wing their way every afternoon, and arrive 

 shortly after sunset. Endless columns pour in from 

 various quarters, and as they arrive pitch upon their ac- 

 customed perches, crowding closely together for the 

 benefit of the warmth and the shelter afforded by the 

 thick foliage of the pine. The trees are literally bent by 

 their weight, and the ground is covered for many feet in 

 depth by their dung, which by its gradual fermentation, 

 must also tend to increase the warmth of the roost. 

 Such roosts are known to be thus occupied for years, 

 beyond the memory of individuals ; and I know of one or 

 two, which the oldest residents in the quarter state to 

 have been known to their grandfathers, and probably had 

 been resorted to by the crows during several ages pre- 

 vious. There is one of great age and magnificent extent, 

 in the vicinity of Rock Creek, an arm of the Patapsco. 

 They are sufficiently numerous on the rivers opening 

 into the Chesapeake, and are every where similar in their 

 general aspect. Wilson has signalised such a roost at no 

 great distance from Bristol, Pa. and I know by observa- 



