ALLIOT 



A BIRD COURT OF SONG 329 



break forth again into vociferous cawing, the noise becoming 

 strident and incessant. Again and again, periods of silence ensue 

 followed by riotous disorder. 



Often it is the misdeeds of one bird alone that is the cause of all 

 this turmoil. Xo man has ever been able to learn what the offence 

 is, nor how nor when the prisoner was brought to the bar of justice 

 in the tree at the edge of the forest. It is hard to understand too 

 why the culprit comes and bows his head in shame and disgrace 

 before his fellows, when it would seem that he might have so easily 

 escaped by flying to some far-off spot out of reach of his accusers. 

 The guilty crow appears, howe\ T er, caws a weak defense with 

 ruffled feathers and a most woe-begone expression, and has no 

 more than finished when he is pounced upon by judge and witnesses 

 who swoop down upon him with one accord, killing him instantly. 



Such dramatic proceedings among crows have been witnessed 

 again and again. Rooks and ravens have held the same sort of 

 meetings. The punishment meted to the guilty one is not always 

 so severe, however, as he is sometimes merely chastised, and pre- 

 sumably warned against again transgressing the laws of his people. 

 I once watched two young, and evidently inexperienced ravens 

 who had made up their minds to start housekeeping in the branches 

 of a tree that it was quite apparent was unsound. Their elders 

 remonstrated with them all to no purpose, and finally impatient at 

 their wilful disregard of friendly advise, the King Crow called a 

 court. After the usual long and noisy discussions part of the crows 

 assembled flew to the tree and destroyed the nest that the per- 

 severing pair had almost completed, while others pounced upon the 

 young offenders and thrashed them soundly. Curiously enough 

 upon my visiting the spot some months later, I found that a severe 

 storm had carried away the branch upon which the young pair had 

 insisted on placing their nest, and had they been left in peace they 

 and their babies would have perished. It may have merely been 

 a coincidence, but it seemed that those wise old crows were 

 possessed of an extraordinary intuitive knowledge that told them 

 that the place was unsafe. 



Sparrow courts for the trial and punishment of offenders have 

 also frequently been noted, but the little creatures are so mis- 

 chievious and pugnacious that their trials have neither the sobriety 

 nor dignity of those of the crow family, and do not appear to be 

 guided by so much intelligence. Swallows and martens too have 



