18 AT A HERONRY NEAR LONDON 
Billy sees we don’t want him, and he can’t 
get at us, he gives up the chase, and partakes 
himself to his accustomed corner in the lake. 
In front of us is the thickly-wooded low-lying 
island. Elms and oaks (leafless as yet), 
and a few firs (which are evergreen) have 
each their place there. Many large black 
birds are in evidence. Rooks are by far the 
most numerous. They have about three 
hundred nests in the elm tops, their favourite 
trees (see..Part. Il,, p.. 75), and. their, meme 
owners are busy, some flying about noisily 
cawing out their language, all the time pro- 
testing probably at our intrusion, whilst 
others sit quietly on their nests. But several 
smaller black birds there, too, are jackdaws, 
their sharp ‘ clack clack’ alone tells us what 
they are, and the keeper says they are building 
in holes in the old tree trunks quite close to 
the rookery. We can see some wild pigeons’ 
nests and also a few of these birds. From 
under the bank as we approach there skurries 
in hot haste, which was very amusing to look 
at, a family of wild ducklings, striving to 
