BOOK. 267 



but about two hundred yards distant, where they re- 

 mained till the spring of 1847, when, before their nests 

 were completed or young hatched, they disappeared 

 altogether, and the heretofore frequented trees are only 

 now and then resorted to by a few stray casual visitors."* 

 Of the rookeries above named in the vicinity of Nor- 

 wich, those at Cossey and Spixworth are the most ex- 

 tensive at the present time ; but my friend Mr. Edwards 

 informs me, that some twenty or thirty years ago, that 

 at Keswick was probably the largest in Norfolk, and in 

 autumn and winter formed the chief roosting place of 

 the rooks in this district, whose immense flocks, of an 

 evening, quite blackened the adjacent meadows whilst 

 feeding up to the last moment before settling for the 

 night. The Cossey woods are now, I believe, their chief 

 rendezvous, and a most extraordinary and interesting 

 sight is the assembly of these dark masses, with their 

 circlings, pitchings, and noisy manceuvrings, until each 

 individual is fairly accommodated, and their babel of 

 voices hushed for the night. It is very difficult to 

 account for the changeable habits of these birds, sud- 

 denly and apparently from no particular motive leaving 

 their accustomed trees for others close by on the same 

 domain, or gradually decreasing in numbers, as noticed 

 at Keswick. There, although still nesting in con- 

 siderable quantities, large portions of the rookery, once 

 most densely populated, are entirely deserted, more 

 particularly on the side nearest the railroad ; the noise 

 of which and the glare of the lamps at night, may 

 possibly, in some degree, account for their leaving, 

 although, at Brandon, the railroad passes through the 



* There are no rooks building in the Palace gardens at the 

 present time, and, as far as I can learn, they have ceased to do so 

 for the last sixteen years. Jackdaws are plentiful enough in the 

 old ruins. 

 2n2 



