CROW ROOSTS IN MARYLAND. 13 



to them. But before their time the roosts had been carefully studied 

 by Dr. G-odmau, 1 from whom the following quotation is taken: 



" About the years 1800 to 1804, inclusive, the Crows were so vastly 

 accumulated and destructive in the State of Maryland, that the gov- 

 ernment, to hasten their diminution, received their heads in payment 

 of taxes, at the price of 3 cents each. The storekeepers bought them 

 of the boys and shooters, who had no taxes to pay, at a rather lower 

 rate, or exchanged powder and shot for them. This measure caused a 

 great havoc to be kept up among them, and in a few years so much 

 diminished the grievance that the price was withdrawn. Two modes of 

 shooting them in considerable numbers were followed and with great 

 success j the one, that of killing them while on the wing toward the 

 roost, and the other attacking them in the night when they had been 

 for some hours asleep. I have already mentioned the regularity with 

 which vast flocks move from various quarters of the country to their 

 roosting places every afternoon, and the uniformity of the route they 

 pursue. In cold weather, when all small bodies of water are frozen, 

 and fchey are obliged to protract their flight toward the bays or sea, 

 their return is a work of considerable labour, especially should a strong 

 wind blow against them; at this season also, being rather poorly fed, 

 they are of necessity less vigorous. Should the wind be adverse, they 

 fly as near the earth as possible, and of this the shooters at the time I 

 allude to took advantage. A large number would collect on such an 

 afternoon, and station themselves close along the footway of a high 

 bank, over which the Crows were in the habit of flying; and as they 

 were in a great degree screened from sight as the flock flew over, 

 keeping as low as possible because of the wind, their shots were gen- 

 erally very effectual. The stronger the wind the greater was their 

 success. * * * 



"But the grand harvest of Crow heads was derived from the inva- 

 sion of their dormitories, which are well worthy a particular descrip- 

 tion, and should be visited by everyone who wishes to form a proper 

 idea of the number of these birds that may be accumulated in a single 

 district. The roost is most commonly the densest pine thicket that can 

 be found, generally at no great distance from some river, bay, or other 

 sheet of water, which is the last to freeze or rarely is altogether frozen. 

 To such a roost the Crows, which are, during the daytime, scattered 

 over perhaps more than 100 miles of circumference, wing their way 

 every afternoon, and arrive shortly after sunset. 



"Endless columns pour in from various quarters, and as they arrive 

 pitch upon their accustomed perches, crowding closely together for the 

 benefit of the warmth and the shelter afforded by the thick foliage of 

 the pine. The trees are literally bent by their weight, and the ground 

 is covered for many feet [ ?] in depth by their dung, which by its grad- 

 ual fermentation must also tend to increase the warmth of the roost. 



1 Rambles of a Naturalist, Philadelphia, 1833, pp. 65-66, 103-125. 



