262 BIRD WATCHING 



flight, and, shortly afterwards, the loud harsh trumpet- 

 ing of pheasants is heard in all the woods and coverts 

 around, as they prepare to fly up into their own roost- 

 ing trees. This dove-tailing of two accustomed things 

 in the daily life of rooks and pheasants I have often 

 noticed, but it must be mere coincidence, for pheasants 

 vary in their hours of retirement, whilst the leisurely 

 homeward journeying of rooks, with pauses longer or 

 shorter at one place or another, occupies, in winter, 

 most of the afternoon. 



" November 27th. — By the river, this afternoon, I 

 noticed two great assemblages of rooks down on the 

 meadow-land, whilst others, in large numbers, were 

 flying en route homewards. Of these, two would often 

 act in the way I have before described — that is to 

 say, whilst flying the one just over the other with very 

 little space between them, both would sink suddenly 

 and swiftly down, the upper following the under one, 

 and both keeping for some time the same relative 

 position. But besides this, two birds would often pur- 

 sue each other downwards in a different way, de- 

 scending with wide sideway sweeps through the air, 

 from one side to another, after the manner of a para- 

 chute, the wings being all the while outstretched and 

 motionless. In either case the pursuit was never per- 

 sisted in for long, and obviously it was no more than 

 a sport or an evolution requiring the concurrence of 

 two birds. 



"Again, two will sweep along near together, at slightly 

 different altitudes, with the wings outspread in the same 

 way — that is to say, not flapping. Then first one and 

 afterwards the other gives a sharp wriggling twist, 

 seeming to lose its balance for a moment, rights itself 



