PROPERTY IN BIRD I^IFE 



colony. Even when they leave their ancestral 

 home, as they do for months at a time, they never 

 forget the fact of possession, and throughout the 

 whole year they pay periodical visits to their 

 tree-castles in order to satisfy themselves that all 

 is well. 



As a rule the movements of the birds in regard 

 to their own rookery are pretty much as follows:— 

 In early May the young are clamorous in the 

 nests, and the black forms of the parents, clearly 

 defined against the green leaves, may be seen 

 from morning to night busily engaged in supplying 

 the ever-increasing needs of their offspring. This 

 is the season of the most abounding activity in 

 the rookery. 



In June the young are well on the wing, and are 

 able to visit even distant pastures. They are 

 now learning how to earn their own living, al- 

 though they still make querulous appeals to their 

 elders for the food which is gradually being with- 

 held. As summer advances the whole colony 

 may suddenly disappear, and m the case of one 

 rookery we have m mind, not a single bird was 

 to be seen until nearly the end of October, when 

 the great family as suddenly returned to remain 

 for two or three days only. During the winter 

 they came back no more in mass, but in early 

 January two oi three birds arrived at the tiees, 

 held a short consultation and left again. Week 

 by week the visit was repeated, the numbers on 

 each occasion being larger, and in February the 

 full colony were back, and were soon at work at 

 the business of nest-repairing and building. 



During the winter several colonies will amal- 

 gamate, but the sense of possession is never lost, 

 and at the call of spring each party draws apart, 

 and returns to its own place, the younger members 

 of the community being often forced, by lack of 



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