WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 267 



become stiff, and will not bend to the gale ; this 

 immobility is also dangerous to the nest. So long as 

 the bough yields and sways gently not much, but 

 still a little the strong winds do no injury. When 

 the bough becomes rigid, the broad side or wall of 

 the nest offers an unyielding surface, which is accord- 

 ingly blown away. 



The nests which contain young are easily distin- 

 guished, despite the height, by the almost continuous 

 cry for food. The labour of feeding the voracious 

 creatures must be immense, and necessity may partly 

 account for the greater boldness of the old birds at 

 that season. By counting the nests from which the 

 cry proceeds the condition of the rookery is ascertained, 

 and the amount of sport it will afford reckoned with 

 some certainty. By noting the nests from which the 

 cry arose last, it is known which trees to avoid in the 

 rook-shooting ; for the young do not all come to 

 maturity at the same time, and there are generally a 

 dozen or so which it is best to leave a week or a fort- 

 night later than the rest. 



When the young birds begin to quit the nests, and 

 are observed perching on the tree or fluttering from 

 branch to branch, they must not be left much longer 

 before shooting, or they will wander and be lost. 

 A very few days will then make all the difference ; 

 and so it has often happened that men expecting to 

 make a great bag have been quite disappointed, not- 

 withstanding the evident number of nests : the 

 shooting has been held a day or so too late. The 



