90 THE LIFE OF THE FIELDS. 



It is curious that a seagull can generally be observed 

 opposite the Aquarium ; when there is no seagull 

 elsewhere along the whole Brighton front there is 

 often one there. Young gulls occasionally alight on 

 the roof, or are blown there. Once now and then a 

 porpoise may be seen sunning himself off a groyne ; 

 barely dipping himself, and rolling about at the surface, 

 the water shines like oil as it slips off his back. 



The Brighton rooks are house birds, like sparrows, 

 and perch on the roofs or chimneys — there are gene- 

 rally some on the roof of the Eglise Reform^e Fran- 

 9aise, a church situated in a much-frequented part. 

 It is amusing to see a black rook perched on a red 

 tile chimney, with the smoke coming up around him, 

 and darkening with soot his dingy plumage. They 

 take every scrap thrown out, like sparrows, and peck 

 bones if they find them. The builders in Brighton 

 appear to have somewhat overshot the mark, to judge 

 from the number of empty houses, and, indeed, it is 

 currently reported that it will be five years before the 

 building speculation recovers itself. Upon these empty 

 houses, the hoardings, and scaffold-poles, the rooks 

 perch exactly as if they were trees in a hedgerow, 

 waiting with comic gravity to pounce on anything in 

 the gardens or on the lawns. They are quite aware 

 when it is Sunday — on week-days they keep at a fair 

 distance from workmen ; on Sundays they drop down 

 in places where at other times they do not dare to 

 venture, so that a glove might be thrown out of win- 

 dow among them. In winter and spring there are 

 rooks everywhere; as summer advances, most leave 

 the town for the fields. 



