224 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



eggs fresh and incubated. It is true that we suffer 

 more from this last propensity in a dry season than a 

 moist one, for the obvious reason that, owing to the 

 abundance of vegetation in the latter, the eggs of 

 game and other ground-nesting birds are better con- 

 cealed, but our Partridges especially owe their safety 

 to this cause, and not to any lack of searching on the 

 part of the Rooks. An observant and accurate natu- 

 ralist and well-known falconer in West Norfolk used 

 to assure me that he could detect an egg-stealing 

 Rook at half-a-mile's distance by its manner of flight, 

 and, being an ardent sportsman, he always pre- 

 ferred a flight at one of these oophagous rascals to 

 any other that his district could then afford. We 

 annually lose great numbers of the eggs laid by the 

 pinioned Ducks of many species about our aviary- 

 pond from the raids of these black robbers, who will 

 even penetrate into the nesting-hutches in Avhich 

 some of the wildfowl lay, and fly off with the eggs 

 on their beaks, no doubt sucking them as they go. 

 We also notice that our Rooks are extremely fond 

 of walnuts and the acorns of the evergreen oak. 

 Whether the damage done by these birds is atoned 

 for by their good works in the destruction of insects 

 is an open question : personally we are inclined to 

 give the Rook the benefi.t of the doubt, but in such 

 a Rook-haunted neighbourhood as ours it is certainly 

 absolutely necessary to keep down their numbers by 

 shooting their young pretty closely every year. 



One of the most curious ornithological sights to 

 be witnessed in this neighbourhood is a Rooks' 

 parliament, or meeting, which, with us, generally 

 takes place in the autumn months, and invariably in 

 one of three special places, about an hour before the 



