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' resented this, and would charge the presuming 

 ' stranger with much fur^^ I used to feel so sorry for 

 ' these other rooks, and put food for them at a little 

 'distance from the pen, on the top of which Jack 

 ' paraded as king of the castle. It was very amusing 

 * to see this bird when he arrived one year to take up 

 ' his winter residence, and found that the pen had been 

 ' altered to make a pigeon flight. Poor fellow ! He 

 ' went round and round the sides of the pen with the 

 ' peculiar Rook waddle much quickened, as if to say 

 ''Bless me ! I'm sure I used to be able to get in 

 'here! ' Of course I continued to put food for him 



'on the ground I cannot remember 



' whether the incident I witnessed of the Rook hiding 

 ' the crust occurred prior to the release of my captive 

 'or afterwards, but I think it was after. If it was 

 'before it would seem to throw the balance in favour 

 'of the theory that wild Rooks do act so, and wh}^ 

 ' should they not ? If it was afterwards then perhaps 

 'the bird was ni}^ old acquaintance. I wish I could 

 ' remember ; it is very aggravating. Dr. Creswell's 

 ' account of the Rook in his garden stealing food from 



' the Starlings reminds me of a way I had of 



'feeding Jack by 'sparrow-post.' When it was too 

 ' cold and snow}^ for me to go out I used to throw from 

 ' the window with the other food a largish crust of 

 ' bread. This the Sparrows .... would gradually 

 ' carry (some score of them) further and further up the 

 ' garden. Then suddenly .... down would swoop 

 'Jack, and from among a scatteration of Sparrows bear 



' away the crust in triumph. One day a 



'Jackdaw swooped down and stole the crust from the 

 ' Sparrows, when the outraged Rook, highly indig- 



