WATCHING ROOKS 285 



" At 8.20 the principal flight is over, but still there 

 is a stream of birds issuing out, and most of these are 

 now going down on to the land. All at once, these — 

 that is to say, all the rooks on the ground — rise and 

 fly to the trees, the birds who have been sitting in 

 them join them in the air, they all fly about together 

 over the trees, and then go off in two or more bodies, 

 and in different directions. There has been no sign 

 of a leader, or of leadership, in any of the flights 

 out, or in any of the birds' actions. 



"At 8.45, when no more rooks are to be seen, 

 either flying or on the ground, I walk through the 

 larches, and put up a good many birds who have 

 remained sitting in them, instead of going out with 

 the rest. I, then, walk all round the plantation, and 

 find numbers of rooks sitting in the beech-trees that 

 edge it on one side. Though the numbers seem 

 small, after watching the innumerable flights out, 

 they may yet amount to some hundreds. Thus, 

 some small bodies of birds, and even some individuals, 

 have not been influenced by the action of the vast 

 majority, but have sat still whilst the rest flew forth 

 — unless, indeed, all of them have first flown out, and 

 then back again ; but this I do not think is the case. 

 Two great leading principles seem to govern all the 

 actions of rooks — independence and interdependence. 

 All are influenced by all, yet all can, on any and 

 every occasion, withstand that influence, and think 

 and act for themselves. 



" Sometimes the sweepsback of the birds into the 

 trees are very curious, seeming to indicate some 

 unknown force at work. There is a sort of com- 

 motion — a turmoil of some sort — causing a cessation 



