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OMNIVOROUS BIRDS. 
doubtable King-bird who has courage for the attack, begin- 
ning the onset by pursuing and diving on his back from 
above, and harassing the plunderer with such violence, that 
he is generally glad to get out of the way and forego his 
piratical visit ; in short, a single pair of these courageous 
and quarrelsome birds are sufficient to clear the Crows 
from an extensive corn-field. 
The most serious mischief, of which the Crow is guilty, 
is that of pillaging the maize field. He commences at 
the planting-time, by picking up and rooting out the 
sprouting grain, and in the autumn, when it becomes 
ripe, whole flocks, now assembled at their roosting-places, 
blacken the neighbouring fields as soon as they get into 
motion, and do extensive damage at every visit, from the 
excessive numbers who now rush to the inviting feast. 
Their rendezvous, or roosting-places, are the resort in 
autumn of all the Crows and their families for many miles 
round. The blackening silent train continues to arrive 
for more than an hour before sun-set, and some still strag- 
gle on until dark. They never arrive in dense flocks, 
but always in long lines, each falling into the file as he 
sees opportunity. This gregarious inclination is common 
to many birds in the autumn, which associate only in pairs 
in the summer. The forests and groves, stripped of their 
agreeable and protecting verdure, seem no longer safe and 
pleasant to the feathered nations. Exposed to the birds of 
prey, which daily augment in numbers ; penetrated by the 
chilling blasts, which sweep without control through the 
naked branches, the birds, now impelled by an overruling 
instinct, seek in congregated numbers some general, 
safer, and more commodious retreat. Islands of reeds, 
dark and solitary thickets, and neglected swamps, are the 
situations chosen for their general diurnal retreats and 
roosts. Swallows, Black-birds, Rice-birds, and Crows 
