132 WAKE-ROBIN 



over a wide country, would prevail, as a few might 

 subsist 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 Newburgh, on the Hudson, 

 the crows go into winter quarters in the same man- 

 ner, flying south in the morning and returning again 

 at night, sometimes hugging the hills so close dur- 

 ing a strong wind as to expose themselves to the 

 clubs and stones of schoolboys ambushed behind 

 trees and fences. The belated ones, that come la- 

 boring 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 Wash- 

 ington as soon as the season begins to open, sailing 

 leisurely along two or three hundred feet overhead, 

 or sweeping low over some common or open space 

 where, perchance, a dead puppy or pig or fowl has 

 been thrown. Half a dozen will sometimes alight 

 about some such object out on the commons, and, 

 with their broad dusky wings lifted up to their full 

 extent, threaten and chase each other, while perhaps 

 one or two are feeding. Their wings are very large 

 and flexible, and the slightest motion of them, while 

 the bird stands upon the ground, suffices to lift its 

 feet clear. Their movements when in air are very 

 majestic and beautiful to the eye, being in every 



