EARLY SPRING IN SAVERNAKE FOREST 225 



tiger-coloured plumage, and lifting to the light 



his pale, shield -hke face and luminous eyes, — 



would indeed be a rare spectacle ; and then, 



what hissings, snappings, and beak-clatterings, 



and shriU, cat-like, and yelping cries ! But, 



although these singular contests go on so near 



us, a few yards above the surface, Savernake 



might be in the misty mid -region of Weir, or 



on the slopes of Mount Yanik, for all the 



chance we have of witnessing them. 



An experience 1 had one day when I was 



new to the forest and used occasionally to lose 



myself, gave me some idea of the numbers of 



jackdaws breeding in Savernake. During my 



walk I came to a spot where all round me and as 



far as could be seen the trees were in an 



advanced state of decay : not only were they 



hollow and rotten within, but the immense 



horizontal branches and portions of the trunks 



were covered with a thick crop of fern, which, 



mixed with dead grass and moss, gave the dying 



giants of the forest a strange ragged and desolate 



appearance. Many a time looking at one of 



these trees I have been reminded of Holman 



Hunt's forlorii Scapegoat. Here the daws had 



Q 



