BIRDS IN THE HIGH HALL GARDEN 



of general warfare were to be inaugurated 

 against them, the gregarious habit, so far 

 from being a protection, would speedily and 

 disastrously facilitate their extermination. 

 Another curious habit noticed in these birds 

 is that of flying on fine evenings to a con- 

 siderable height and then swooping suddenly 

 to earth, often on their backs. These antics, 

 comparable to the drumming of snipe and 

 roding of woodcock, are probably to be ex- 

 plained on the same basis of sexual emotion. 



The so-called parliament of the rooks pro- 

 bably owes much of its detail to the florid imagi- 

 nation of enthusiasts, always ready to exagge- 

 rate the wonders of Nature ; but it also seems 

 to have some existence in fact, and privileged 

 observers have actually described the trial and 

 punishment of individuals that have broken 

 the laws of the commune. I never saw this pro- 

 cedure among rooks, but once watched some- 

 thing very similar among the famous dogs of 

 Constantinople, which no longer exist. 



The most important problem however in 



connection with the rook is the precise extent 



to which the bird is the farmer's enemy or his 



friend. On the solution hangs the rook's fate 



51 



