A YEAR WITH THE ROOKS 385 



dropping suddenly on each other, in sheer merri- 

 ment, or as if shot, to the ground. "The rooks 

 are blown about the skies," says Tennyson, a close 

 observer of the habits of the bird, and so they often 

 are ; but, as often as not, the reverse is true, and 

 they cling fast, through the tempest, to their 

 ancestral trees. 



" The rook sits high, when the blast sweeps by, 



Right pleased with his wild see-saw ; 

 And though hollow and bleak be the fierce wind's shriek, 

 It is mocked by his loud caw, caw. 



Oh ! the merriest bird the woods e'er saw 

 Is the rook with his wild caw, caw." 



During a good half of the year, as we shall see, 

 the rooks are not continuous tenants of their 

 rookery, but they always make a point of looking in 

 upon it, each morning and evening, as they return 

 from or to their customary roosting-place, just to 

 see how it is getting on. A few of them often 

 linger in the trees behind the rest ; while, in 

 autumn, they sometimes begin to repair such of 

 their nests as have stood the summer well, or, as 

 they think, may be useful, as a foundation, for those 

 of the next year. Thus, in the height of summer or 



in early autumn, when deep silence seems to have 



2 B 



