Extracts from Diary of Otto Widmann 21 



dark is heard for miles around. Before the sun is up 

 in the morning the Crows leave the roost, but the noise 

 may be heard long before daybreak, and does not cease 

 until they have left. In open weather in fall, hardly a 

 Crow is seen at the roost all the forenoon. The place 

 looks deserted. The Crows have gone, and the first rays 

 of the sun find them scattered over hundreds of square 

 miles. We may go out any direction within twenty miles 

 of St. Louis, but we see Crows winging their way to 

 some distant feeding ground, scattering as they proceed, 

 spreading over fields and woods, but enlivening the 

 scenery wherever they appear. 



They seem to do most of tlieir feeding in the morning. 

 In the early afternoon they beg^in to collect into flocks, 

 and large congregations may be seen in many places, 

 passing the time playfully until ready to go home, when 

 flock joins flock, trj^ing to keep track if wind and weather 

 permit. On clear, still days they fly at great heights. A 

 gale throws them far out of their beaten path and they fly 

 as low as possible, seeking shelter from the wind behind 

 woods and buildings, and following as much as possible 

 the lowest depressions of the ground. 



They first appear at the roost soon after midday, but 

 the majority arrive within an hour before sunset; com- 

 paratively few come later. 



It is not unusual to see them carry food in their bills to 

 the roost, and different kinds of nuts and acorns, pieces 

 of meat and even bones may be found on the sandbank. 



As long as the weather remains mild the Crow sleeps 

 in the trees, but when the sharp north wind strips the 

 trees of their leaves the trees lose much of their attrac- 

 tion for the Crows, and they begin to spend the nights 

 on the sand which girdles the island. 



In November comparatively few Crows resort to the 

 sand, but when in December zero weather sweeps over 

 the island, most of them remain on the ground, covering 



