522 HOMES WITH0T7T ^ANDS. 



" There is no wild bird in England so completely gregarious 

 as the Book, or so regular in its daily movements. The ringr 

 doves will assemble in countless multitudes, the finches will 

 unite in,vast assemblies, and waterfowl will flock in thousands 

 to the protected lakes, during the weary months of winter ; but 

 when the returning sun spreads joy and consolation over the 

 face of nature, these congregated numbers are dissolved, and the 

 individuals retire in pairs to propagate their respective species. 

 The Eook, however, remains in society the year throughout. In 

 flocks it builds its nest, in flocks it seeks for food, and in flocks 

 it retires to roost 



" About two miles to the eastward of this place are the woods 

 of Nostdl Priory, where &om time immemorial the Eooks have 

 retired to pass the night. I suspect, by the observations which 

 I have been able to make on the morning and evening transit of 

 these birds, that there is not another roosting-place for at least 

 thirty miles to the westward of IfosteU Priory. Every morning, 

 from within a few days of the autumnal to about a week before 

 the vernal equinox, the Eooks, in congregated thousands upon 

 thousands, fly over the valley in a westerly direction, and return 

 in undiminished numbers to the nest, an hour or so before tihe 

 night set« in. 



" In their morning passage, some stop here ; others in other 

 favourite places, farther and farther on ; some repairing to the 

 trees for pastime, some resorting to the fields for food, till the 

 declining sun warns those which have gone farthest that it is 

 time they should return. They rise in a mass, receiving additions 

 to their numbers from every intervening place, till they reach 

 this neighbourhood in an amazing flock. Sometimes they pass 

 on without stopping, and are joined by those which have spent 

 the day hera At other times they make my park their place 

 of rendezvous, and cover the ground in vast profusion, or perch 

 upon the surrounding trees. After tarrying here for a certain 

 time, every Eook takes wing. They linger in the air for awhile, 

 in slow revolving circles, and then they all proceed to Nostell 

 Prioiy, which is their last resting-place for the night. 



" In their morning and evening passage, the loftiness or lowli- 

 ness of their flight seems to be regulated by the state of the 

 weather. When it blows a hard gale of wind, they descend the 

 valley with astonishing rapidity, and just skim over the tops of 



