COURTS OF JUSTICE 141 



entire court assemblage flew toward the two sen- 

 tinels on the tree-top, and in a very few minutes 

 these untrustworthy guards were literally torn into 

 shreds. This was punishment for their failure to 

 notify the crow court of the presence of a danger- 

 ous spectator! The crows then flew away, prob- 

 ablj to continue the session elsewhere with more 

 trustworthy guards 



An English naturalist was riding along a quiet 

 road one day when he was startled by a tremendous 

 commotion in an adjacent field. Cautiously crawl- 

 ing to a gap in the hedge, he discovered that a large 

 assemblage of rooks was the cause of the noise. 

 There could be little doubt that a trial was going 

 on. The criminal stood in the centre of a small but 

 angry group of his sable-coated brethren. He was 

 cawing loudly, but his pleas were drowned by the 

 clamour of hundreds of rooks about him ; and it was 

 not long before the entire court rushed upon the 

 poor wretch and pecked him to pieces in a few min- 

 utes. The assembly then gradually dispersed. 



For some strange reason young rooks seem to 

 take special delight in pilfering. One is almost 

 forced to believe that it is their method of educa- 

 tion, a special training for earning their livelihood ! 



Be this as it may, one thing is sure — if they are 

 caught, great punishment is meted out to them. 



