Foretelling the future by observing the behavior of birds seems to be a cross cultural phenomenon. It is a part of nearly all ancient cultures and has some basis in fact. Hunter gatherers observe the behavior of birds as an indication of the presence of other animals. Simple observation would indicate that carrion birds circle over an injured animal. It is an inescapable conclusion that carrion eaters circling in the distance means that there is an injured or dead animal there. The circling and diving of gulls or terns over one spot in the sea indicates that there are a number of small fish in that spot and by association larger fish will be attracted to that spot. In a time without the general use of clocks or calendars, the sighting of a stork nesting indicates Spring. To this day in The United States we take the sighting of a robin to indicate that Spring has arrived. A simplistic logical progression would lead to the fact that the future can be predicted by observing birds and that projection seems universally to have been made. The practice is called, alectryomancy from the Greek meaning divination from the observance of the behavior of a cock. Crows fighting in the air and falling dead from the sky curiously does not have a negative connotation in Hindu lore. It signifies the end of a crisis. There seems to be a wide latitude in cultural interpretation. I should imagine that the idea of West Nile Virus causing the death of Alexander to have been engendered by the reported falling of dead crows as Alexander approached Babylon. West Nile Virus attacks crow populations. In my area 80% of the crow population has died off and I have both had West Nile and found a dead crow on my property within the same week. The connection is certainly there for me. It is difficult to believe that Alexander at 33 was not able to naturally overcome an infection of West Nile Virus. I got over it in two days and I am twice his age at the time. Deaths from the infection where I live has only occurred in people over 50 and the majority of the cases go undiagnosed appearing to the victim as no more than a particularly violent case of the flu. It is too late to ever know what killed Alexander. The symptoms recorded can be made to fit several theories and the records cannot be proven to be accurate. Indeed, provable facts are scarce. The very tale of the crows outside Babylon may or may not be true. It is quite possible that ancient observers at some point noticed that the death of large numbers of crows presaged an unusual amount of fatal illness in people. If this had occurred several times, it should most certainly have entered the lore of alectryomancy. On the other hand the story may have been added after the fact as so often occurs. Speculation about Alexander has always been a popular pastime, but it is no more than that. It contributes to keeping the legend alive through the generations.