158 
COMMON CROW. 
after performing some five minutes, both flew away. Another habit which I have observed 
relative to the breeding of the Crows, is that sometimes three birds will be engaged in 
building one nest and then all will remain about it until the eggs are hatched. I have 
noted this upon several occasions during different years, but of what sex the odd bird was 
I am unable to say, yet as I have found the usual number of eggs in the nest upon two 
occasions, judge that it is either a barren female or a male. 
In winter the Crows come down from the north in countless numbers and frequent 
the sea shore in small flocks. At this season they subsist on animal and other edible food 
thrown up by the tide, but during the severest weather, when the earth is covered with 
snow and the creeks, rivers, and bays are ice-bound, they undergo many hardships. I 
have frequently seen them with both feet frozen so stiff that they were unable to walk, and 
in this condition they were endeavoring to procure food from the margin of the ice where 
the water which dashed over them with every wave froze almost as soon as it struck, and 
their tails and wings became clogged with ice. It seems strange that these birds will re¬ 
main in such an inhospitable region where they must suffer greatly, when a few hours’ 
flight would carry them to much warmer quarters. It is noticeable, however, that a large 
quantity of the Crows do migrate just before storms, returning in milder weather. The 
few that remain more in the interior of the country fare better, for they have thick woods 
to which they can retreat and, as they are of a provident disposition, they lay up stores 
of corn, acorns, etc. which they hide in holes of trees or bury in the ground. It is inter¬ 
esting to watch a Crow when he is endeavoring to find one of these caches. He will fly 
across a snow-covered field where he has made his deposit and, after taking a turn or two, 
evidently misled at first by the changes which the weather has made, soon alights and con¬ 
fidently proceeds to a small mound, but a moment’s scrutiny of this satisfies him. He then 
turns to another but with no better success, next he pauses an instant to take a better sur¬ 
vey and to refresh his memory, when he hops briskly a few yards, gives two or three strokes 
with his powerful beak, and unearths his treasure. It is also observable that he is silent 
until he has completed the discovery and devoured his lunch, then he gives a few trium¬ 
phant caws as he flies slowly away. 
The Crows form a self-constituted police force, being constantly on the lookout for 
offenders, and when an Owl or Hawk appears within the bounds of their jurisdiction, some 
will give chase, sounding the peculiar notes which call others, until the unfortunate intrud¬ 
er is surrounded by a mob, all of whom vociferate loudly. They will not desist until the 
object of their alarm has taken its departure or hidden itself. Besides these gatherings, 
the reason for which is obvious, the Crows often assemble for no apparent object. They 
will occasionally gather in large numbers, generally selecting a few scattering trees which 
stand in an open country as a place of rendezvous, but I can give no plausible reason for 
these assemblies. They are,however, of not unusual occurrence in the autumn. I do not 
think that the Crows of Massachusetts or south of this point are migratory, but judge that 
the large numbers of these birds which frequent the coast all winter, come from the far 
north, for they are larger in size and less suspicious than the natives, as if unaccustomed 
to being disturbed. 
