EARLY SPRING IN SAVERNAKE FOREST 93 



birds that their voices mingled into a curious sharp 

 murmur. Tired of walking, I sat down on a root 

 in the shelter of a large oak, and remained there 

 perfectly motionless for about an hour. But the 

 birds never lost theii' suspicion ; all the time the 

 distant subdued tempest of sharp notes went on, 

 occasionally dying down until it nearly ceased, 

 then suddenly rising and spreading again until 

 I was ringed round with the sound. At length 

 the loud, sharp invitation or order to fly was given 

 and taken up by many birds ; then, through the 

 opening among the trees before me, I saw them 

 rise in a dense flock and circle about at a distance : 

 other flocks rose on the right and left hands and 

 joined the first ; and finally the whole mass come 

 slowly overhead as if to explore ; but when the 

 foremost birds were directly over me the flock 

 divided into two columns, which deployed to the right 

 and left, and at a distance poured again into the trees. 

 There could not have been fewer than two thousand 

 birds in the flock that came over me, and they were 

 probably all building in that part of the forest. 



The daw, whether tame or distrustful of man, 

 is always interesting. Here I was even more in- 

 terested in the jays, and it was indeed chiefly for 

 the pleasure of seeing them, when they are best 



