A YEAR OF SPORT AND NATURAL HISTORY. 



but a dying silver poplar they will desert. They show remarkable 

 capabilities for adapting themselves to difficult circumstances, and 

 in this connection a book might be written on London Rooks, or, 

 for that matter, on London Crows. 



The savoir faire of a pair of these birds in Battersea Park at this 

 moment is absolutely astounding. They seem particularly pleased 



THE ROOK, 



at having chosen an island where the ornamental water-fowl are 

 proposing to lay. Nothing could exceed this pair of birds in 

 boldness, and yet anyone who has lain up in the hope of shooting 

 a pair of crows knows very well how exceedingly cautious and 

 suspicious they are. But it is of Ravens, is it not ? that the story 

 is told by a good observer of how they could count two but not 



