ROOKS AND THEIR RELATIVES 123 



manner, which she responds to in the same way ; then 

 she opens her mouth and her mate places his collec- 

 tion of dainties in it and flies off at once for another 

 stock of provisions. She does not swallow the whole 

 at first, but twists the pellet over and bites it about ; 

 all the digestible portion is then devoured, the rest 

 she lets fall to the ground. This process goes on all 

 day, from the early morning till late in the evening ; 

 father rook filling his own stomach at the same time. 

 It is a very anxious time for him and his partner 

 when the young ones leave the nest and begin to 

 perch a little on the branches ; for then rook-shooting 

 commences. This sport is not so much followed as 

 it used to be. At the first two or three discharges 

 the whole rookery is in a cawing uproar. Then, as 

 the young ones fall, one after another, with a thud on 

 to the ground, they can put up with it no longer, but 

 rise in a black cloud and ring round and round, gradu- 

 ally getting higher and higher until they are at an 

 immense height, looking like small black spots, their 

 clamour sounding very faint on the ear. It is only 

 when the day is drawing to a close that they will 

 come down and count the living. 



In exceptionally hot and dry summers, like that 

 of 1887, the rook suffers as much as he does in a 

 severe winter, for the ground is too hard for them to 



