'25 



great ingenuity in flying round and round to twist off twigs and 

 small branches for this purpose. They appear in pairs all over the 

 grounds at the end of February, and the females take possession 

 of their respective nests in March, and make a sort of choking 

 guttural note, exactly like the young ones will do in April ; the 

 males kissing and feeding them as they sit on the nests or on 

 the ground, and this long before any eggs are laid. One pecu- 

 liarity of this rookery is the small number of eggs to a full clutch. 

 Of late years I have frequently tested this, and never counted 

 more than four. On 5th April, 1901, I examined three clutches 

 containing three, two, and two eggs, from nests built away from 

 the main rookery, and all the eggs were hard sat on. Probably 

 the clutches are so small because the Rooks are unable to get 

 sufficient food, partly because they have increased so in numbers, 

 and partly because new buildings have appeared in so many of 

 their old feeding grounds. I have frequently seen them take 

 birds' eggs, and Harry Witherby watched one take all four, one 

 after another, in a sly suspicious manner, out of a Mistle's nest. 



In March, 1901, we commenced to play hockey on the now 

 disused cricket ground. The large elms overshadowing the 

 ground contained the usual Rooks' nests. The occupants, 

 however, failed to appreciate this game, and bodily removed 

 their nests across the railway to the " West Lodge " side of the 

 grounds. 



On 15th March, 1903, I saw the males feeding the females 

 on " The Cedars' " lawn with bread, the females uttering the 

 cackling cry like young ones. 



During the fearful gale of 24th March, 1895, a number of 

 " The Cedars' " Rooks' nests were blown clean away. 



42. — Swift (Cypselus A pus). 

 I remember one at " West Lodge," May 15th, 1898. 



43. — Wryneck (lynx Torquilla). 



This appropriately-named bird is an occasional visitor at 

 " The Cedars," where it creeps about the tree trunks like a 

 snake. 



I had a good long view of one at " The Cedars " on 3rd April, 

 1896, and Harry Witherby had an equally long view at " West 

 Lodge" on 17th May, 1901. Its note is a striking one, though 



