Castles in the Air, 47 



Sometimes the nest is hidden away from sight alto- 

 gether, in a hole in an overhanging bank, or deep 

 in a crevice in the wall. 



Some birds, again, conceal their nests by skilfully 

 harmonizing the materials with the surroundings. 



A wonderful charm there is in looking on as the 

 work progresses, to watch the creeper glide up the 

 rugged bark of the tall elm with a feather fluttering in 

 her beak, and disappear behind the knotted ivy stems 

 that hold her cosy nest ; to see the starling carry his 

 untidy odds and ends into the woodpecker's hole in 

 the walnut-tree ; to watch the woodpecker himself, the 

 rightful owner, venture near now and then to look on 

 with unmistakable signs of indignation. 



But conspicuous now among the busy throng are 

 the rooks, and loud above the notes of shyer builders 

 rises the clamour of the rookery. 



The magpie and the crow, birds of the same out- 

 lawed clan, are as shy in their building work as they 

 are in other ways. They choose the darkest corner 

 of the wood, the most solitary clump of trees, the 

 tallest elm on the farm j and it is as hard to watch 

 them at their work as it is to stalk them in the open. 



But it is quite otherwise with the rook. It is no un- 

 common thing to find among the busy streets of a 

 town a row of elms where the great ungainly birds 

 build with perfect confidence their huge nests, and sit, 

 and wrangle, and make love, careless of the roar of 

 traffic, and all unconscious of the passers by. 



