304 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



whole plumage raised and his wings and tail feathers 

 open; but he did not attempt to inflict any punishment; 

 after all that show of resentment at the insult he con- 

 tented himself by pouring out a series of prolonged 

 sharp scolding notes. These ended, the two birds started 

 quietly feeding together. 



In the promiscuous gatherings, one cannot but ob- 

 serve that although they all meet and mix in an easy 

 friendly manner there is yet a great difference in their 

 dispositions and in their ideas about fun if it be per- 

 missible to put it in that way. In some of the most 

 social species, small shore birds, starlings and rooks, 

 for instance, their games are mostly among themselves 

 and are quite harmless although there is often a pretence 

 of anger. That is part of the game just as it is with 

 kittens and with children. The gulls mix but do not 

 affiliate with the others and play no tricks on their 

 neighbours, like the crow, just for mischief's sake. 

 They want something more substantial. They must 

 have it out of some one and it is usually the peewit. 

 He, the gull, flies about in a somewhat aimless way, 

 then drops down among them to rest on the turf or 

 walks about curiously inspecting the grass, perhaps 

 wondering what the mysterious sense or faculty of the 

 rook and starling is by means of which they know just 

 which individual grass among a hundred grasses con- 

 tains a grub in its roots — a fat morsel which may be 

 unearthed by a thrust of the beak. The grass tells 

 him nothing and in the end he finds it more profitable 

 to watch the other probers at work. He sidles up in 



