THE ROOKERY 47 



cern ; but in the last week of March black tails 

 will become visible sticking over the edges of 

 many of the nests, evidence that the labours of 

 incubation have begun. 



It is during sitting-time that the rook shows 

 himself at his best and also, alas ! at his worst- 

 as a family man. Some observers of rooks have 

 denied that they ever enter into the bonds of 

 matrimony in the strict sense of the term. Each 

 male undoubtedly does undertake the duty of pro- 

 viding food for one wife and family, but this, 

 it is alleged, is merely an apportionment of 

 communal labour, and does not carry with it 

 monogamist obligations. The indictment is un- 

 proved. What is true is that the rook is a great 

 and unabashed flirt. During April he labours 

 hard in the fields to feed himself and collect 

 enough to satisfy the appetite of the sitting lady 

 in the tree -top. But when he has fed her he 

 thinks nothing of hopping on to the edge of 

 another nest and breathing soft nothings to its 

 occupant. In nine cases out of ten the matron 

 will receive him with asperity, but there is 

 generally a tenth case in which the conduct of the 

 tempted fowl will not bear investigation. And 

 the curious thing is that the legitimate spouse 

 of the flirt may be eyeing him all the time, but 

 she retains an unconcerned placidity, and, in the 

 language of Marjory's poem about the turkey, 

 " does not give a single dam." 



It has often been remarked as puzzling that 

 the number of rooks in a rookery never corre- 

 sponds with the number of nests. In the case 



