80 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 



The two birds he attended to went and came, 

 sometimes together, then first one, and then the 

 other, and sometimes one would remain at the 

 nest during the absence of its mate. This went 

 on for about three hours, and nothing unusual 

 happened at the nest; at other points of the 

 rookery there were little storms of noise and 

 some shindies, but he was determined not to let 

 his attention wander from his two birds. At 

 length he was rewarded by seeing one of the pair 

 fly to an unguarded nest about thirty yards away, 

 on a neighbouring tree, and deliberately pull out 

 a stick, which it brought back and carefully 

 adjusted in its own nest. By and by the two 

 birds who had been robbed returned together and 

 immediately appeared to be aware that something 

 was wrong with their home. Standing on the nest, 

 they put their heads together, fluttering their 

 wings and cawing excitedly, and presently they 

 were joined by others, and others still, until almost 

 the entire colony was congregated on the tree, all 

 making a great noise. After two or three minutes 

 they began to quarrel among themselves, and there 

 were angry blows with beaks and wings, after 

 which the tumult subsided, and the company broke 

 up, every pair going back to its own nest. After 

 that comparative peace and quiet continued for 

 some time, but Mr. Redburn now noticed that one 

 bird always remained on guard on the nest where 

 the stick had been stolen. His two birds quietly 

 continued to work and go and come, and by and 



