382 BIRD LIFE AT BINGHAM 1 S MELCOMBE 



nearly reached the top of a tree, was attacked by 

 cramp, and falling to the ground, broke his back. 

 He lay where he fell for an hour or so before his 

 companion could get assistance, and was carried 

 home in a moribund condition. Whether there 

 was any connection of cause and effect between the 

 accident and the action subsequently taken by the 

 rooks must be uncertain ; but, next year, the 

 rookery was entirely deserted by them, though 

 the trees were in good health, and none of them 

 had been felled, or marked for felling. The same 

 friend has described to me the proceedings of a 

 remarkable convocation of rooks which he was 

 able to watch from close at hand. One day, in 

 the month of August, he noticed a number of rooks 

 approaching the trees of a small rookery in front of 

 his house, which, at that time of year, were seldom 

 visited by them. One of the rooks, flying about ten 

 yards in front of the others, carried in its bill a 

 twig, some eighteen inches long. It took up a 

 prominent position on one of the trees, deposited 

 the twig on the branch by its side, and then the 

 business of the meeting began. First, one rook 

 would talk in what seemed to be a set speech, and 

 then they would all suddenly strike in, with a 

 clamorous assent or dissent. Then, a second rook 



