180 A PHILOSOPHER WITH NATURE 



rook in London which seems to separate the time 

 by a long interval from the present. The rookery 

 in Kensington Gardens was then still in existence 

 and was said to contain thirty-one nests, which 

 makes the writer recall with regret the year 1836 

 when the rookery extended from the Broad Walk to 

 the Serpentine and contained close on one hmidred 

 nests. Since some of the higher trees were cut down 

 in the gardens some years ago the birds have left 

 the gardens, doubtless never to return, and there 

 is not now a single nest in the place. Dr. Hamilton 

 also mentions other places which the rooks then 

 frequented but which they have since forsaken. 

 He says : " In 1875 a rook's nest was built and the 

 young hatched out in a tree at the back of Hereford 

 Square, Brompton. The following year the birds 

 returned with others and ten nests were built in 

 the fine elm and plane trees there." But in 1879 

 there is a note in the same paper stating that the 

 rooks' nests near Hereford Square, Brompton, 

 which had been for several years frequented in the 

 spring, had been that year deserted, the result 

 being attributed to the noise of the workmen in 

 the numerous buildings which were being erected in 

 the vicinity. 



This or a similar fate has now befallen nearly 

 all the rook settlements in London. That the birds 

 cHng so long to their old haunts, despite many incon- 

 gruous surroundings, is due to the well-known 

 conservative instincts of the family. The rook is 

 like the salmon : when he grows up he goes abroad 

 far afield to sow his wild oats and seek his fortune, 

 but when he settles down in life and elects to take 

 upon himself parental responsibilities he alwajTfe 



