A City of Rooks. 233 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE ROOKERY BUILDING NESTS YOUNG BIRDS 



ROOK-SHOOTING STEALING ROOKS ANTICS IN THE 



AIR — MODE OF FLIGHT WHITE ROOKS. 



The cit}^ built by the rooks in the ehns of the great 

 pasture field (the Warren, near Wick farmhouse) is 

 divided into two main parts ; the trees standing in 

 two rows, separated by several hundred j-ards of 

 sward. But the inhabitants appear to be all more or 

 less related, for the}^ travel amicably in the same 

 flock and pa}' the usual visit to the trees at the same 

 hour. Some scattered elms form a line of commu- 

 nication between the chief quarters,- and each has one 

 or more nests in it. Besides these, the oaks in the 

 hedgerows surrounding the field support a few nests, 

 grouped thi'ee or four, in close neighborhood. In 

 some trees near the distant ash-copse there are more 

 nests whose owners probably sprang from the same 

 stock, but were exiled, or migrated, and do not hold 

 much communion with the capital. 



In early days men seem to have frequentl}^ dug 

 their intrenchmeuts or planted their stockades on the 

 summit of hills. To the rooks their trees are their 

 hills, giving security from enemies. The wooden 

 houses in the two main streets are evidently of greater 

 antiquity than those erected in the oirtlying settle- 



