A ROOKERY IN SPRING 15 



Meanwhile the neighbours put up a good show by standing firmly with 

 half-spread wings and open beaks : trying, it would seem, to bluff the aggressors 

 into believing that they will hold on to the last. 



One of the attackers jabs wildly with his beak in the direction of the enemy 

 — ^upon which all caw frantically ; the other takes half a pace forward to the 

 loud applause of his mate ; while the besieged, by firmly holding their ground, 

 seem to demoralize the besiegers to such an extent that no decisive result is 

 attained. And so, with a good deal of wing-flapping and smoothing of ru^ed 

 feathers, the battle comes to an inglorious end. No blood has been spilt, but 

 every one seems satisfied. 



While all this is going on, a Rook occupying a flat below goes cheerfully 

 about her business, neither she, nor any of the others in the vicinity taking 

 the least interest in the uproar. 



When, however, later in the season, the rival claims have been adjusted, 

 and the females are sitting upon their greenish blotched eggs, an atmosphere 

 of peace and serene content pervades the colony. The caws that emanate 

 from the branches about the nests seem to be the sleepy conversation of a 

 satisfied people, and every now and again the faithful husbands may be seen 

 flying into the trees, each settling on his nest, or some branch adjacent to it, 

 and affectionately poking food down the throat of the cawing female ; which 

 operation accounts for the curious gulping sound which sometimes intercepts 

 a prolonged ' caw-w-w.' 



The delight of the female as she receives the Httle gift is very obvious, 

 for besides such verbal expression of her pleasure, she flutters her half -opened 

 wings in a quivering way, just as a young bird does when taking food from the 

 parent. 



Sometimes she is so overcome with joy at the return of her mate — or the 

 possibility of more food — ^that unable to wait patiently upon the nest, she 

 flutters from branch to branch towards him, and with wide-open beak awaits 

 the expected meal. 



Such food is almost invariably collected from the pasture and arable 

 land in the vicinity of the Rookery, and is composed almost entirely of larvae 

 and insects. So anxious are the Rooks to secure these delicacies that they 

 will settle upon and examine the newly turned earth in the wake of a plough ; 

 and in fact, in hard weather, when they are pressed for food, they will often 

 settle within a few feet of the man guiding the plough, and instances are on 

 record of the Rooks having been ploughed under in their eagerness to seciu"e 

 some tempting morsel. 



Towards the middle of March, or early in April, the majority of the Rooks 

 have completed their nests. In due course from one to six eggs are laid, the 

 most usual clutch being four or five — ^though it is by no means uncommon 

 to find but a single nestling hatched. 



