240 THE BIG BLOW. 
when they would have starved else. Rooks 
are amongst the most intelligent of birds— 
they have to be—and they were one and all 
quick enough to note their leader’s discovery, 
and to go and do likewise. Directly the 
small birds settled on the soft snow, many 
of them sank and burrowed into it. Their 
instinct was to hide their weakness from 
enemy eyes. Moreover, under the snow 
meant shelter and warmth compared to the 
wind above. 
Those that did not go under the snow when 
they settled were no good to the rooks; they 
were too lively and too strong yet to be worth 
attention. Nevertheless, the old rook presi- 
dent had, in his way, by example, saved the 
flock, for the little birds, once under the snow, 
were invisible, and the rooks seemed not to 
have had the initiative to look for what they 
could not see, until their leader stumbled upon 
the lucky discovery. 
And so the rook flock fed, feasted, ban- 
queted enormously. There was never any 
need to rise and battle with the wind, never 
any need to do anything but just hop about and 
pick up half-dead birds as they were wanted. 
Sheltered well from the wind, on the south 
side of a sandhill, the old rook sat preening 
himself as the day drew to an end. He de- 
