a murder of crows

On Christmas Day, as my youngest daughter and I made our way into town to have dinner with my oldest daughter & family, we came upon a murder of crows, at least two dozen of them in stark contrast to the whiteness of the snow! I wished I had the time to draw them. Daughter had not heard the term "murder of crows" before and wondered if it had anything to do with death.

I remember my son-in-law's grandfather once told me that crows, like other carrion eaters, often congregate around a corpse or dead thing. He was telling a story about his frustration with modern ignorance of old-fashioned knowledge that might help, for example, the police find a missing person. He had notified the police that a large murder of crows had gathered in some woods near his home and the police foolishly laughed at him.

In a novel by Deepak Chopra, I also recalled, he described crows as time-travellers.

I really would have like to have done a drawing of those crows!