ROOKS AND SMALL BIRDS.
ITO TEE HUMOR OP THE °SPECTATOR:1
Sra.—May I ask through your columns for the experience of yoir readers on the following conditions P When I came to this place in 1872 the British earthworks, covering about eight acres, in which ere the terraces of a Saxon Meot, were more or
less overgrown with all varieties of thorns, hazel, small-leaf maple, skewer wood, &c., with some stately limes, yews, larch, oak, and elm trees, affording a very " elyeium " for birds of all kinds. A colony of about twenty rooks bad previously arrived, which have now increased to about a hundred and fifty nests. But as these increased so did the small birds as a rule decrease I The nightingale comes, singe for a few nights, then nests elsewhere: within half-a-mile they are heard by the score. The chaffinch, greenfinch, yellowhammer. and hedge sparrow are comparatively rarely seen. The tits of all varieties, formerly abundant, are now nearly all absent. The nuthatch, wryneck, and whitethroat have deserted us, and the willow-men, formerly abundant in the withies and sedges flanking the Christchurch Avon, which flows at the bottom of the Moot, are now very few. An observant neighbour explains this condition by the presence of the rookery. " The little birds don't like their black neighbours." Is this a general experience P No guns are allowed except at rook-shooting, nor any nests taken. The aggressive sparrow haunts the house gardens and stables in increasing numbers, notwith- standing various devices for his destruction ; and thrushes and blackbirds abound. Can any of your readers confirm or explain this state of things P—I am, Sir, dui.,
P.S.—The narrative disclosed in this postscript may interest your readers. The writer is absolutely trustworthy, and lives on the estate in which the incident occurred :—
"There is a rookery about three hundred yards from the house to the right as you look out from the dining-room window. Just opposite there is a clump of trees in which the rooks never build. One day all the rooks came down from the rookery to these trees, and held a parliament there, with great noise of cawing, &o. After a time, all except three flew away to another clamp of trees, where they held another noisy meeting, the three remaining behind making no attempt td fly away. Presently the main body returned to the trees on which these three rooks were waiting, killed three rooks (presumably those that had been left behind there), and then returned to the rookery. This happened in the spring during building-time an old labourer said that the three rooks that were killed had probably been robbing their neighbours' nests to build their own."
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