90 BIRDS AND MAN 



character. And it is far from monotonous. In 

 this wood in March I have often kept near a pigeon 

 for half an hour at a time hearing it uttering its 

 cooing note, repeated half a dozen or more times, 

 at intervals of three or four minutes ; and again 

 and again the note has changed in length and 

 power and modulation. In the profound stillness, 

 on a windless day, of the vast beechen woods, these 

 sonorous notes had a singularly beautiful effect. 



After spending a short time in the forest, one 

 might easily get the idea that it is a sanctuary for 

 all the persecuted creatures of the crow family. 

 It is not quite that ; the ravens have been de- 

 stroyed here as in most places ; but the other birds 

 of that tribe are so numerous that even the most 

 bloodthirsty keeper might be appalled at the task 

 of destroying them. The clearance would doubt- 

 less have been effected if this noble forest had 

 passed, as so nearly happened, out of the hands 

 of the family that have so long possessed it : that 

 calamity was happily averted. Not only are the 

 rooks there in legions, having their rookeries in 

 the park, but, throughout the forest, daws, carrion 

 crows, jays, and magpies are abundant. The jack- 

 daws outnumber all the other species (rooks in- 

 cluded) put together ; they literally swarm, and 



