170 NATURE NEAR LONDON. 



turned out to be an incredible number of sparrows, 

 whose voices were audible across the field. 



They presently flew out from the hedge, and 

 alighted on one of the rows of cut barley, making it 

 suddenly brown from one end to the other. There 

 must have been thousands ; they continually flew up, 

 swept round with a whirring of wings, and settled, 

 again darkening the spot they chose. Now, as the 

 sparrow eats from morning to night without ceasing, 

 say for about twelve hours, and picks up a grain of 

 corn in the twinkling of an eye, it would be a moderate 

 calculation to allow this vast flock two sacks a week. 

 Among them there was one white sparrow his white 

 wings showed distinctly among the brown flock. In 

 the most remote country I never observed so great a 

 number of these birds at once ; the loss to the farmers 

 must be considerable. 



There were a few fine days at the end of the month. 

 One afternoon there rose up a flock of rooks out of a 

 large oak tree standing separate in the midst of an 

 arable field which was then at last being ploughed. 

 This oak is a favourite with the rooks of the neighbour- 

 hood, and they have been noticed to visit it more 

 frequently than others. Up they went, perhaps a 

 hundred of them, rooks and jackdaws together cawing 

 and soaring round and round till they reached a great 

 height. At that level, as if they had attained their 

 ball-room, they swept round and round on out- 

 stretched wings, describing circles and ovals in the 

 air. Caw-caw; jack-juck-juck ! Thus dancing in 

 slow measure, they enjoyed the sunshine, full from 

 their feast of acorns. 



