ROOKERY ACTIVITY The gregarious habit of rooks is the thing
about them that fascinates most people, 1 think. If it doesn't
always fascinate, it certainly infuriates farmers or people whit live too close to the rookery. I find rooks and their conversations interesting at a distance, par- ticularly in spring and early summer when breeding increases their activity. For a good part of the year, however, the nearest rookery to me appears to be tenanted by only a few birds. They are, I suppose, the true residents, the larger numbers- being the off- spring at one time and 'visitors' at others, but the other day I am sure there was something special on, for the rookery was the centre of a great congregation discussing something of importance. The sound could be heard quite a long way away from the place. It may have been one of those significant days in the lives of the rooks, for we have recently passed the shortest day of the winter and an unusually brilliant streak of sunlight illuminated the sky. The language of rooks is a closed book to man, but it could have been that alternate outbursts were applause and dis- sension over some subject debated. This disturbance continued until the light faded, the sky frowned and the now silent rooks sat clustered in the branches, a score of black groups rather indistinct in the gathering dusk.
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