98 



THE OOLOGIST. 



On the Diurnal Transitions of 

 Crows. 



O.ENERALLY speaking, Crows do not 

 ^ " migrate." Many persons suppose 

 that to migrate is the regular habit of the 

 Crow, this opinion being urged by the fact 

 that the bird is seen in the fall massed in 

 large flocks, soon after disappearing from 

 the locality, and returning again in the 

 spring. But in some other localities, the 

 inhabitants will be surprised, perhaps, to 

 notice an influx of Crows during the entire 

 winter, their numbers appearing to fill the 

 air at stated hours every day. Possibly 

 this apparent phenomenon was the first oc- 

 currence of the kind that had been witnessed 

 in that locality for years ; indeed, in some 

 districts, such an appeai^ance had not been 

 known for many generations. There is 

 not a farmer, however, who has not wit- 

 nessed the flocking of the Crow, and not a 

 few who have wondered whither so many 

 could have subsequently betaken them- 

 selves. 



The whole mystery may be seen at once, 

 if one will take the time to study the habits 

 of the Crow and make its winter life an es- 

 pecial feature of investigation. It will be 

 remarked that all the Crows for miles a- 

 round will collect together, flocks from ev- 

 ery district joining themselves with the 

 great throng ; and the first thing noticeable 

 thereafter, will be the regularity with which 

 they journey back and forth across a certain 

 area of the country — going in the morning, 

 and returning late in the day. Hundreds 

 and thousands will appear : such a gather- 

 ing of birds as had never before been seen 

 in that region ; farmers purchase a goodly 

 supply of amunition, and take every pre- 

 caution to defend themselves and theirs 

 from a possible invasion the coming spring ; 

 people view the immense congregation with 

 interest and wonder ; collectors and all in- 

 terested in the circumstance, begin to make 

 calculations and to theori/e on its probable 

 cause and possible effect. The truth of it 

 is, that this body of birds has convened for 



the purpose of sociability, and has found a 

 feeding ground that will supply them dur- 

 ing the long, cold, winter months ; there 

 being no accommodations for roosting in 

 the vicinity, these birds are obliged to trav- 

 el a long distance to find that convenience. 

 Every morning, between dawn and sunrise, 

 they set out for the feeding ground, return- 

 ing regularly in the afternoon or just before 

 sunset. And the variation in the hours of 

 these transitions is so slight, that one is 

 surprised on referring to his watch, to find 

 that the time of yesterday's and to-day's 

 flights are exactly the same. 



As spring approaches, the diurnal flights 

 are performed less regularly, the birds do 

 not fly as compactly as they did during the 

 severe weather, and the ranks are less no- 

 ticed on account of the scattered groups that 

 fly over. Later on, the few individuals 

 that compose the remnant of the previous 

 multitude may be seen flying hastily to their 

 nesting grounds, many miles away. The 

 locality that supported so many Crows dur- 

 ing the winter, is inhabited for the remain- 

 der of the year by its usual number of birds, 

 and may possibly never agaiu be visited by 

 such a throng. This habit may be termed 

 a periodical round of occupation, yet some 

 few individuals from the north spend their 

 winters in the south. 



The Nomenclature of N. A. Birds. 

 — Prof. Lilljeborg's system, of ornitholog- 

 ical arrangement, which has completely 

 revolutionized modern ornithology, was 

 hardly known more than ten or twelve years 

 ago. On its appearance it was at once 

 adopted by the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and their entire collection of birds have 

 been arranged on this system. His paper, 

 translated into English (except the tables, 

 which were in Latin), was published by 

 the Zoological Society in 1866, and in the 

 same year reprinted by the Smithsonian. 

 Dr. Coues, in 1872, conformed his Key to 

 this system and in the following year Prof. 

 Baird adopted it substantially, with Mr. 

 Ridgway's modifications, in "North Amer- 



