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Second Counc. Meet.......(6)

rise up and fly in the directions from which these lines of flight came. It is amusing to hear the different tones of the birds in this assemblage. Some of these I would never attribute to the crow. One particular note I heard, and which was most frequently given when the bird was descending from a great height, sounded very much like that produced by a stick running along a picket fence -- a rattle. There were other notes very much like those of a cuckoo.

[[underline]] Dr. Fisher [[/underline]]: Have you been able to approximate the area that they cover?

[[underline]] Mr. Kalmbach [[/underline]]: I should say that the patch of woods in which they were this last time was about 10 or 15 acres. There are a few facts that can be learned very easily at this roost. In former years the numbers were attributed to the old roosts were very large, running up into hundred of thousands. As far as I can get reports, the roosts of today are smaller, and it would be a very interesting fact to know if the crow is breaking up into smaller roosts. The number could be easily counted, but the lines of flight are too numerous to be counted by one person.
Another interesting thing to be learned, that has a definite bearing on the economic status, is the distance that the crows fly from these roosts, and we can thus easily tell what territory the birds cover during the winter months. How far these birds up here go, I do not know. Some probably go to the eastern shore, that is, the shore of the Chesapeake. A few years ago there was published in the Proceeding of the Delaware Valley Orn. Club a report on the crow roosts in the lower Delaware Valley, and much valuable information on the range of these birds was recorded.

[[underline]] Mr. Henshaw [[/underline]]: How would you suggest ascertaining the distance covered?

[[underline]] Mr. Kalmbach [[/underline]]: The report mentioned determined this by observations made by various people throughout this region. Of course it could be done in limited areas by postmasters and other people well informed. If it would not be possible to do that, it might be accomplished by first determining the average rate of speed at which these birds come into the roost, and knowing the length of time it takes this line of flight to get into the roost, we might arrive at some conclusion