324 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph b\- William L. F 



II. T. Bohlman 



THE THEME OE POETS, EABULISTS, AND MEN OF SCIENCE 



The crow is equally at home throughout the continent of North America, in the tundras 

 of Siberia, along the shores of the Mediterranean, in Africa, India, China, Japan, and on 

 many of the islands of the Eastern archipelagoes. South America alone knows him not. 



be found as early as the end of February. 

 Young crows may be found from the 

 middle of March, in the South, to as late 

 as July along our northern border. 



The voracious young remain in the nest 

 for about three weeks, and even after 

 they learn to fly are fed to some extent 

 by their parents. Throughout July and 

 August crows may be found in family 

 parties or in small flocks, living comfort- 

 ably on a commendable diet into which 

 enters a variety of insects, though the 

 annual crop of grain furnishes a portion 

 of the subsistence. 



MIGRATION BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER 



By September, however, begins the fall 

 migration, and associated with it the es- 

 tablishing of crow roosts, by all odds the 

 most interesting phenomena connected 

 with these birds. 



From September to March of each year 

 the migratory habit? of these birds bring 

 together in two comparatively small areas 

 the bulk of the crow population of North 

 America. One of these nuclei is located 



east of the Alleghanies, with its center in 

 the lower Delaware Valley ; the other 

 centers about the junction of the Ohio 

 and Mississippi rivers. The western con- 

 centration, however, covers a much larger 

 area, and roosts of enormous size may be 

 found as far south as Oklahoma. 



In the Far West there is also a con- 

 densation of the crow population in the 

 winter months, particularly along the 

 Columbia River and near the coast, but 

 the number of birds involved is in no 

 way comparable to the mammoth gath- 

 erings farther east. 



While these clannish birds may be 

 noted gathering in colonies of as many 

 as several hundred in northern localities 

 in August and September, it is not until 

 about the first of October that the large 

 conclaves in the latitude of Washington, 

 D. C, begin to take on the aspect of their 

 winter popularity. There is considerable 

 fluctuation in numbers from day to day, 

 and in periods of mild weather a roost 

 previously established may wholly dis- 

 appear. 



