274 WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



sentinel in a tree to give warning of the approach of 

 an enemy. The whole flock is generally on the ground 

 together, and if half a dozen perch awhile on the trees 

 they soon descend. So far are they from setting a 

 watch, that if you pass up outside the hedge to the 

 leeward, on any side except where the wind would carry 

 the noise of footsteps to them, it is easy to get close > 

 sometimes, if they are feeding near the hedge, within 

 three or four yards. Of course, if a rook happens to 

 be in a tree it will not be possible to do so ; but they 

 do not set a sentinel for this purpose. 



Rooks, in a general way, seem more at their ease in 

 the meadows than in the arable fields. In the latter 

 they are constantly fired at, if only with blank charges, 

 to alarm them from the seed, besides being shouted at 

 and frightened with clappers. The birdkeeper's efforts 

 are, however, of very little avail. If he puts the flock 

 up on one side of the field, they lazily sail to a distant 

 corner, and when he gets there go back again. They 

 are fully aware that he cannot injure them if they 

 keep a certain distance ; but this perpetual driving 

 to and fro makes them suspicious. In the meadows it 

 is rare for them to be shot at, and they are conse- 

 quently much less timid. 



At the same time, they can perfectly well distinguish 

 a gun from a walking-stick. If you enter a meadow 

 with a gun under your arm, and find a flock feeding, 

 they immediately cease searching for food and keep 

 a strict watch on your movements ; and if you ap- 

 proach they are off directly. If you carry a walking- 



