MAGPIE FIELDS 



month. One afternoon there rose up a flock of 

 rooks out of a large oak tree standing separate in 

 the midst of an arable field which was then at last 

 being ploughed. This oak is a favourite with the 

 rooks of the neighbourhood, and they have been 

 noticed to visit it more frequently than others. 

 Up they went, perhaps a hundred of them, rooks 

 and jackdaws together cawing and soaring round 

 and round till they reached a great height. At that 

 level, as if they had attained their ball-room, they 

 swept round and round on outstretched wings, de- 

 scribing circles and ovals in the air. Caw-caw ; 

 jack-juck-juck ! Thus dancing in slow measure, 

 they enjoyed the sunshine, full from their feast 

 of acorns. 



Often as one was sailing on another approached 

 and interfered with his course when they wheeled 

 about each other. Soon one dived. Holding his 

 wings at full stretch and rigid, he dived headlong, 

 rotating as he fell till his beak appeared as if it 

 would be driven into the ground by the violence 

 of the descent. But within twenty feet of the 

 earth he recovered himself and rose again. Most 

 of these dives, for they all seemed to dive in turn, 

 were made over the favourite oak, and they did not 

 rise till they had gone down to its branches. Many 

 appeared about to throw themselves against the 

 boughs. 



'99 



