CROWS 199 



every fold, there seems to be in every rookery one 

 of the swart brotherhood whose blackness goes all 

 the way through. Sometimes in the midst of the 

 busy cawing and bustle of the day, a sudden hub- 

 bub will arise. Round one of the nests a fierce 

 conflict is waging. Half-a-dozen birds have 

 launched themselves upon it, rending it to frag- 

 ments and casting it like chaff to the ground, while 

 others are chasing the luckless proprietors, follow- 

 ing them through the blue air w4th a sound not 

 wholly unlike that of a pack of hounds in full cry. 

 It is difficult to make sure of the motive for this 

 determined eviction, but in all likelihood a pilferer 

 from other nests has been caught at his work, and 

 destruction of his own home and banishment from 

 the colony is the ordained penalty of the oflence." 

 Yarrell, too, states that it has been repeatedly 

 noticed that when a pair of Rooks attempt to build 

 on a tree previously unoccupied, and at a distance 

 from the main body, the rest often destroy the nest. 

 Personally, although from my window I have 

 watched the movements of Rooks for many years, 

 I have never been fortunate enough to witness the 

 first of these occurrences, nor, indeed, the latter, 

 with sufficient clearness to enable me to decide with 

 certainty whether the nest-destruction was an act of 

 retributive justice on the part of the community, or 

 a mere whim of the owners themselves. On one 

 occasion two pairs of Rooks built in a detached plan- 

 tation some distance from the rookery, and each 

 brought off a brood in safety. In the succeeding 

 spring four birds returned and laboriously rebuilt 

 the nests, working for several days. One morning 



