The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-10-31
CROWS IN CAUCUS.
BEFORE GOING SOUTH THEY
HOLD BIG REUNIONS.
Jack Frost's Arrival Frightens Them
Away From Northern: Chimes
Annual Powwows-Great
Roost Near Washington.

x FTER the duties of incuba-,
"A tion are past, crows lead an
NJ industrious and happy life
with their yourg, teaching
the brood how to find food for them
selves and to avoid the dangers they
are liable to encounter from the mani
fold traps set by the farmer to the
hunter with his gun on his shoulder.
It's said this sagacious bird smells
powder. His sharpness and cunning
in avoiding it would make one almost
believe so. The. young are taught
early to steer clear of all men with
sticks in hand roaming at large
through the woods, while the loud,
urgent "Csw, cav, caw," the old
crows danger signal, is familiar to
everybody.
As the evenings become cool the
parent birds, with their charges, now
as large as themselves, join with
others of their sort, until oil the crows
that inhabit radius of twenty miles
or 80 are banded together. For q
month more they pick up their living
as one large family, seen everywhere
in focks.
Sooner or later Jack Frost arrives.
This is the signal the crows seem to
have waited for, as the morning after
the ground shows white, these sable
marauders choose an open spot;
generally, if near tide water, a marsh
is preferred, and throwing out two
or more sentine's, like the good
generals they are, begin a regular
conference meeting. The ground,
from twenty to 200 feet, according to
the size Of the flock, is black with
them. An irregular ring 10 formed
and q speaker, or rather several
speakers, hold forth, much to the
edifcation of the rest. The assembly
is thoroughly noisy, and their loud
cawing at such times is audible half
mile away. The gathering is con-
tinued generally, if not disturbed, at
the Same place for several days, gain
ing in intensity like protracted
camp meeting, as though they realized
the Importance of coming to speedy
decision.
Presently the interested country
man, or naturalist, who has been q
silent observer at a distance, of this
bird ''powwow," wakes up some
morning to find thin film Of ice has
formed in wet places over the land
scape. He then glances down to the
distant meadow or marsh just to see
how the crows like it. To his surprise
there are none there. Their meeting
ground is vacant, and not SO much aa
feather is in sight. They are off, he
thinks, but just when and how they
left he cannot imagine.
A month or six weeks may pass and
this casual observer, who has neither
seen or heard a crow in the meantime,
is astounded some day by the old ia.
miliar sounds, while he notices black
body or two ,busilY at work in their
usual haunts. Though the winter is
at hand he think, perhaps (if he has
not given the matter some. thought),
that these birds are the forerunners Of
the old lot. He is entirely wrong in
his conclusions. These newcomers
are crows who have spent the, summer
far to the northward, reaching their
present location only after q long MI
grafton. ......,,..
Hardy fellows these, who will brave
winters blasts without leaving New
York State. But let us follow the
main body south. The immediate
vicinity of Baltimore and Washington
are great resorts for them. The
writer, as schoolboy in Baltimore,
one winter, on half holidays, shot 1o4
of these birds by hiding behind the
road fence and taking the crows on
the wing, as they few over the turn
pike on their way to the cattle yards
which skirted the city.
For many years past the crows have
had roosting place near Arlington
| General Lees old home-now a Ma
tional cemetery, opposite Washing
ton, on the Virginia side of the Poto-
mac. 1t is familiar and daily sight
| to the inhabitants of the capital,
during the winter months, to
see them passing overhead in the
early morning, going east to their
feeding grounds, which are usually
the shores Of Chesapeake Bay, though
they CLEAN the marshes and branches
of the Potomac River as well. They
spend the day in this manner, return
ing in great focks from 8 to 4 o'clock
in the afternoon till dark, in num-
bers too large to be readily esti-
mated. A low calculation would be
$4,000. One hundred and fifty thou.
sand was once stated in the Washing
ton Star as fair guess at them.
If the day happens to be windy, the
crows show great judgment in avoid
ing the heaviest part of the breeze,
sometimes flying so low as just to
clear the housetops, and then again
soaring so high as not to appear larger
than swallows. On the waters edge,
if shellfish is found by one of them
with too thick covering to be readily
broken, it is taken up into the air and
borne away to some rocky part of the
shore, when it is dropped from
height, and the fall rarely fails to
break the shell, exposing the dainty
meat tn the cunning foraqer,