XXI RIVERSIDE LETTERS 159 



breach of etiquette in rook life ? They are 

 unmistakably rooks, and are rather tame, 

 allowing me to approach quite near at times. 

 I wish there was some ornithological 

 " Sherlock Holmes " to whom one might apply 

 for a solution of these and other bird mysteries. 



The drought this spring is nearly as bad as 

 that which occurred the year before last, and 

 the outlook for gardeners and farmers is be- 

 coming very serious. It is true we have had 

 a few showers, just to break the long spell, 

 but as the reports in the papers show, the 

 precipitation, as they term it, has been very 

 deficient ever since the commencement of the 

 year. 



It is strange that all the different sorts of 

 weather have come to us in lumps lately ; 

 long rains and floods in the autumn long 

 frosts in the winter, and long drought in the 

 spring. The long frost and the long drought 

 have both been accompanied by a persistent 

 strong wind from the north and east. 



I have, by dint of watering from the river, 



