WHY CROWS ROOST IN COMMUNITIES. 21 



evening. About the same number fly in these same directions and 

 about the same hours every day." 



Mr. J. Ellis McLellan, a field agent of the division, discovered a large 

 Crow roost on one of the tributaries of the Big Sur Kiver opposite the 

 little settlement known as Posts, in the redwoods of the Santa Lucia 

 range, south of Monterey, Calif., in March, 1894. Mr. McLellan states 

 that the Crows in coming to this roost never come from the south, 

 which is a mountainous wilderness, but from the north, where there are 

 settlements and food. 



WHY DO CROWS ROOST IN COMMUNITIES? 



Much speculation has been extended in attempts to explain the 

 object of these gatherings of Crows. The theory that they thus escape 

 the attacks of some of their natural enemies fails from the fact that 

 Crows have very few natural enemies — practically none except a few 

 hawks and owls, and these probably are attracted rather than deterred 

 by the presence of numbers. 



Whether the large owls actually visit the roosts at night and feast 

 on the sleeping Crows we have no means of knowing, but it is cer- 

 tain that during the day, when all the able-bodied Crows are absent 

 from the roost, several of the larger kinds of hawks prowl about the 

 vicinity and pick up the weak or disabled individuals which remain. 



If Crows seek immunity from man by roosting in flocks, they must 

 be sadly disappointed, for such gatherings are often looked upon as 

 nuisances which should be promptly abated, and sometimes, as stated 

 by Godman, they have been the scene of unprecedented slaughter. 

 Yet even when driven away night after night the crows continue to 

 return with the utmost persistency, and though they may change the 

 roosting place temporarily, they are pretty sure to come back to it sooner 

 or later. If the places selected were always well sheltered, or the trees 

 afforded specially good perches, some conclusions might be drawn from 

 these facts, but such is not the case. Many of the roosts, it is true, are 

 in thick pines, but by no means all. Sometimes oaks and maples are 

 chosen, sometimes cottonwoods or willows, sometimes beds of reeds, or 

 even the bare ground on the surface of snow or ice. Godman supposed 

 that the birds crowded together for warmth, and even suggested that 

 the decomposition of their accumulated droppings would add to the 

 heat. It may be asserted confidently that there is nothing in either of 

 these ideas. The most probable explanation is found in the social 

 nature of the Crow, which is conspicuous at all seasons. 



DEPOSITS AT CROW ROOSTS AS EVIDENCE OF THE CHARACTER OF WINTER FOOD. 



The Crow is one of the most omnivorous birds, and its digestive sys- 

 tem is well adapted to the utilization of almost anything containing 

 nutriment. Unlike the gallinaceous birds it has no true crop, yet it 

 undoubtedly carries food in its distensible gullet when feeding its 



