60 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



contagion of his example and the " memory of an 

 ancient joy," were all madly barking their ghost 

 barks and scampering invisible over the sands. 



The chief thing to see was the crows coming in to 

 roost from about four to six o'clock, arriving con- 

 tinually in small parties of from two or three to thirty 

 or forty birds, until it was quite dark. The roosting- 

 place has been shifted two or three times since I have 

 known the wood, and, by a lucky chance, on the last 

 occasion of their going to a fresh place I witnessed 

 the removal and discovered its cause. For two evenings 

 I had noticed a good deal of unrest among the roosting 

 birds. This would begin at dusk, after they were all 

 quietly settled down, when all at once there would be 

 an outburst of loud angry cawings at one point, as 

 unmistakable in its meaning as that sudden storm of 

 indignation and protest frequently heard in one part 

 of our House of Commons when the susceptibilities of 

 the party or group of persons sitting together at that 

 spot have been wantonly hurt by the honourable 

 member addressing the House. It would subside only 

 to break out by-and-by at some other spot, perhaps 

 fifty yards away ; and at some points the birds would 

 rise up and wheel and hover overhead, cawing loudly 

 for a minute or two before settling down again. 



I concluded that it was some creature dangerous to 

 birds, probably a fox, prowling about among the trees 

 and creating an alarm whenever they caught sight of 

 him ; but though I watched for an hour I could detect 

 nothing. 



