Birds by Land and Sea 



rook dead more than it feared a rook alive. It knew 

 that rook ought to stand on its feet. " Stand up 1 " 

 was the practical meaning of its cry when it stopped 

 to caw to it in circling about it. But it would not 

 stand up. There was the rub. After recognizing 

 this, the living bird started aside suspiciously, 

 prompted to fly off. The tugging at the wing 

 was only a more emphatic, " Why don't you stand 

 up ? " but it was manifest, from the touch-and-go 

 quality of the bird's courage, that the vigour of its 

 actions was largely prompted by trepidation. One 

 might have imagined that the final jumping upon 

 the body of the dead would be the last demonstration 

 of its harmlessness ; but the alacrity with which the 

 bird sprang off and turned about seemed to prove 

 that it still had a fear that what ? It did not 

 know. That was just the trouble ; and has been 

 the trouble of many who hold themselves wiser 

 than rooks. 



Although starlings have been laying claim to 

 their old nesting sites in the house-eaves by fre- 

 quently visiting them for a couple of months past, 

 it was only on the I3th of April that I first 

 observed a starling carrying material for building its 

 nest. Small flocks have been continually present 

 in our meadows, and latterly bands comprising 

 several hundreds have been seen during the day 

 performing their concerted movements on the wing. 

 But I had good evidence on the i6th April that 

 the dissociating principle was at last thoroughly at 



130 



