SPRING AT THE CAPITAL. 173 



diurnal mass movements cease ; the clan 

 breaks up, the rookery is abandoned, and 

 the birds scatter broadcast over the land. 

 This seems to be the course everywhere pur- 

 sued. One would think that, when food was 

 scarcest, the policy of separating into small 

 bands or pairs, and dispersing over a wide 

 country, would prevail, as a few might sub- 

 sist where a larger number would starve. 

 The truth is, however, that in winter food 

 can be had only in certain clearly defined 

 districts and tracts, as along rivers and the 

 shores of bays and lakes. 



A few miles north of Newburg, on the 

 Hudson, the crows go into winter-quarters 

 in the same manner, flying south in the 

 morning and returning again at night, some- 

 times hugging the hills so close during a 

 strong wind, as to expose themselves to the 

 clubs and stones of schoolboys ambushed be- 

 hind trees and fences. The belated ones, 

 that come laboring along just at dusk, are 

 often so overcome by the long journey and 

 the strong current, that they seem almost on 

 the point of sinking down whenever the 

 wind or a rise in the ground calls upon them 

 for an extra effort. 



The turkey-buzzards are noticeable about 



