44 LETTERS TO MARCO vn 



There by the bridge they abound, as well as 

 in the Wittenham woods a little higher up 

 the river ; there are no rookeries near these 

 places and consequently no spring shooting. 

 This rook shooting is defended by the lovers 

 of the sport as a necessary act, and one that 

 is beneficial to the rooks, as they say if the 

 young rooks were not thus thinned out the 

 rookery would in time be abandoned alto- 

 gether ; they say also that young rooks make 

 a very good pie ; I have never tasted one, so 

 I cannot give any opinion as to this, but I 

 must say this rook shooting seems to me 

 about the most cruel and barbarous of all the 

 various processes of animal destruction which 

 pass by the name of sport. The time chosen 

 for the slaughter is just before the young 

 birds are able to fly, when they sit perched 

 about on the branches around the nests. The 

 shooting is of a difficult character, as the gun 

 has to be held rather perpendicularly. The 

 moment it begins the old birds fly off, though 

 anxiety for their young ones keeps them near 



