Rook-Parliaments
Rook parliaments have been the subject of interesting observations publisbed in the winter number of The Countryman. Some people have seen what they consider to be solid evidence of justice being adminis- tered in a gathering of rooks and are convinced that these gatherings are "parliaments." It is a subject that appeals to the imagination. Rooks, whether they are nesting, feeding or going to roost, are always worth notice. I have seen a bird being mobbed and killed by its fellows. I have watched gatherings both on the ground and in trees surrounding a small field where a few birds were _posturing on the ground, but I have never been able to see parallels in behaviour or distinct actions on the part of certain birds that could be said to be signs that the gatherings were any more than the usual gregarious behaviour of rooks. With my own lack of evidence, I can hardly say that such things as parliaments take place, but I hope to discover that they do. It would be a delightful discovery.
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