COUNTRY LIFE
LAsr week, without murderous intent, I walked up through the wood with a gun and watched the reaction of birds to my presence. Of all birds I think the crows know the gun best. A carriop crow changes his position on the perch, shoots his head forward and takes flight, sailing up and turning away. Jackdaws, too, pass the word to one another and go off with much talk, but pigeons are less prudent. They peer longer and are reluctant to go if they have been in a tree for any length of time. The green woodpecker and the thrushes show no particular concern, for they are seldom shot at. On a cultivated field the reaction of crows or rooks to the appearance of man is one of alarm, but when they discover that he has come to work and behave in a " safe " way, digging or hoeing, they return. I have pointed a garden rake at jackdaws and notice that they are uneasy and alert, but the educated birds urge the young ones to rise when the thing pointed is a gun, while carrion crows will deviate the moment they notice the gun.
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