BIRDS AT PLAY 73 



perch on the shutters and caw till one got up 

 to throw something at him, when he departed 

 in a hurry, and I strongly suspect that all this 

 was done for, was to make one move when 

 one wanted to sit still. 



Most of the crow's jokes, as may be seen, 

 are quite of the practical kind, and bird play 

 is often very much on the lines of practical 

 joking. One of the first queer habits I re- 

 member noticing in any bird was the sparrow's 

 trick of chasing a flying pigeon in the streets ; 

 it seems to do its best to peck it, and it is 

 funny to see how fast the pigeon flies and 

 how it twists about to escape the nips. Any 

 bird will do for this game from the sparrow's 

 point of view, so long as it is not dangerous ; I 

 have seen a sparrow chase a starling, and even 

 a wild duck in Hyde Park. 



Even the dignified peregrine falcon will 

 play in this way ; one of these fine birds 

 used to make the Museum buildings his home 

 during the winter in Calcutta, and the other 

 birds got used to him in time, as he did not 

 attack them, but went away to kill birds for 

 food. But I have seen him swoop down on 



a tame pigeon, and stop his swoop at the 



10 



