A WINTER CROW ROOST 147 



are off for their ni^ht roost on Castle Hill. 



In the early months of the year 1919 the roost 

 was much disturbed by a great horned owl, and 

 temporarily ceased to be, the crows goin^ else- 

 where. The feathers of dead crows and great 

 outcrys among the living attested the crime. 

 Early in April, however, the crows returned as 

 usual to the roost; the owl had evidently taken 

 his departure for his breeding grounds. 



The afternoon of the twenty-second of Febru- 

 ary, 1917, was cold and clear with a wind from 

 the northwest. I made my way to the top of 

 Castle Hill in order to watch the stream of crows 

 from the north. The first arrivals came at half- 

 past four o'clock. They were flying over the ice- 

 filled marshes of the Ipswich and Plum Island 

 rivers, on the lookout perhaps for a last scanty 

 portion of food before bedtime. On reaching 

 Castle Hill they flew up over its crest and glided 

 down into the hard woods to the east and west 

 of the evergreen roost. Here they took part in 

 the regular noisy evening crow reception of the 

 three streams before retiring for the night. 



At the full of the moon on the sixth of Janu- 



