14 WILD LIFE IN THE TREE TOPS 



tree would often seem to serve his purpose quite admirably, the Rook prefers 

 to gather his sticks and twigs from some particular tree in the neighbourhood, 

 which for some reason, impossible to determine, has attracted his fancy. He 

 has, moreover, a nice choice in twigs, and having reached the selected tree he 

 will hop from branch to branch, peering this way and that, until he spies what 

 he considers to be the most suitable one. 



He sidles out along the branch, looks at it closely, makes up his mind 

 and seizing it in his beak, pulls and twists until, with heaving shoulders and half- 

 closed eyes, he contrives to wrench it free. 



Then home once more, and back, and home again. 



How intently does each pair of Rooks work to perfect their future home, 

 and with what a pompous air do they turn all comers from what they consider 

 to be their own particular area ! 



Sometimes a pair of Rooks will sit for hours together by their half-bmlt 

 nest, apparently dreaming away the time, and seeming in no hurry to finish 

 the work ; but, rather, completely satisfied with the feeling that the site has 

 been decided upon, and that actual building has begun. 



A colony of Rooks on a balmy March morning, softly calhng to one another 

 amongst the nests in the tree-tops, high above the primroses which carpet the 

 sweet-smelling earth beneath, may perhaps convey to the casual observer the 

 impression of a peace-loving, easy-going community. Yet sociable as they 

 are, the trees witness some lively struggles for mastery amongst them. 



Sometimes, for some unaccountable reason, one Rook will suddenly make 

 an attack on his neighbour's unoffending wife as she sits complacently upon 

 her nest, and such a scuflBe and squawking will ensue as to suggest that both 

 rooks are being put to death — ^to say nothing of the smashing of any eggs that 

 might be in the nest. 



The husband of the unhappy victim of this onslaught, chancing to be 

 leisurely returning from some foraging expedition, suddenly quickens his pace : 

 his keen eyes have detected that there is trouble at home, and dashing forward 

 he sweeps into the tree with the swerving purposeful action of a Falcon closing 

 on her quarry. In an instant he has seized the intruder with beak and talons, 

 and whilst the pair of them, firmly locked in each other's claws, come fluttering 

 and squalling down through the branches, the female who was thus unceremoni- 

 ously attacked, calmly resumes her duties as though nothing untoward had 

 happened. 



And how human they are ! One pair, perhaps resenting the proximity of 

 those in the next nest, finds some excuse for the exchange of a few pleasantries ; 

 and give vent to their feelings by advancing towards their neighbours with 

 uphfted wings, raised hackles, and the most awe-insp' ring caws that they can 

 produce ; each of them apparently urging on his mate to go in and set the 

 brave example. 



