ROOKS VERSUS HERONS. 29 



are regarded by their benevolent owner ; I left the 

 heronry, and ascending the rising ground a few 

 hundred yards off, but still in the same wood, I 

 came to the rookery : here the herons had ori- 

 ginally taken up their position, but were expelled 

 after a few years by the rooks.* 



By the way, I forgot to mention, that while 

 perched at the top of the Scotch fir, I witnessed a 

 curious chace, for combat it could not be called, 

 between a rook and a heron. The latter, return- 

 ing, I presume, from a foraging expedition among 

 the brooks in the neighbourhood of Pulborough, 

 was obliged either to fly directly over the rookery, 

 or take a circuitous route to avoid it. In this 

 dilemma he seemed to make up his mind to 

 choose the less prudent, though nobler alterna- 

 tive, but he had hardly appeared above the tops 

 of the trees before an old black warrior attacked 

 him furiously, following him up beyond the pre- 

 cincts of the heronry, and buffeting him vigorously, 



* It would appear that such contests are not inva- 

 riably attended with similar results. Bewick quotes an 

 instance in which hostilities were carried on during two 

 successive seasons, and after many of the rooks and some 

 of the herons had lost their lives, the latter remained in 

 possession of the disputed trees. 



Perhaps in these struggles numerical superiority may 

 decide the victory. 



