Winter: Large winter roosts were known to Eaton in the early 1900s. One in Gates contained an estimated 20,000-40,000 birds, another near Canandaigua an estimated 20,000. (Eaton II:215)More recently, crows have begun roosting in cities. Kevin McGown of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, speculates they do so because of the relative warmth, lighting, safety from Great Horned Owls, and because urban settings tend to be off-limits to shooting. In Rochester, winter roosts have been located in Mt. Hope Cemetery or Genesee Valley Park. (O’Hara, p. 41) John Brown in 1963 said the Mt. Hope roost was 15 years old. (BA, 26 December 1963)Foley, Foster and T. Tetlow counted 11,000 at the cemetery on 30 December 1961. (GNR)Chamberlain, who would later do graduate work on fish crows at the University of Maryland (BA, 6 May 1971), estimated there were three principal roosts in the region during the winter of 1962-1963: 25,000 birds at Savannah, Wayne County, off Route 31; 13,705 birds at Mount Hope Cemetery; and 4,000 birds southeast of Canadice lake. (BA, 24 January 1963) The following year, 17,148 were roosting at Rochester on 22 December. (KB 14: 209)Fewer than two thousand were roosting near the cemetery during the winter of 1970-71. (KB 21:78) A roost of 3,200 was reported in January 1983. (GOS, March 1983) But 14,000 were tallied on 22 December 1993 (C. Cass) at Rochester (KB44: 123) and 20,000 were at Rochester (C. Cass, R. Mather) on 18 February 1996. (KB 46:150) In 1999 the roost continued to be located near the University of Rochester and Genesee Valley Park. (LG, March 1999)