tree in which the Ravens had established their home, and they have never nested there since. It would seem, nevertheless, that even now they are not quite proof against the charm of old association, as they have more than once paid a visit of two or three days to the park, and their rich mellow croak, as they loudly remind each other of the past, is still occasionally heard in their old familiar haunts among the beech woods.
In his very useful work, 'Pheasants for Coverts and Aviaries,' Mr. Tegetmeier has examined the evidence on the disputed question whether Rooks destroy Pheasants' eggs, and has detailed several instances (pp. 45, 46) in which they have been known to do so. Mr. Weaver finds the case proven, and records two instances in which Rooks were seen to visit Pheasants' nests and steal the eggs while the hens were actually sitting on them!
Jackdaws, too, are robbers in their way: —
"At the time of year when the Fallow Deer is doffing his winter suit to assume a new one—technically 'shedding his pens'—the Jackdaw finds it convenient to appropriate the rejected materials, as the best he can find, in sufficient quantity for the lining of his nest, and his proceedings on the occasion are characterized, in some individuals at least, by a singular absence of ceremony. Not content with the scattered tufts, which with a little industry he might collect from the trunks of trees, the fences, or any other object against which the deer has been rubbing himself, he actually has the supreme effrontery to tear off fragments of the worn-out coat from the very person of the owner, the latter, meanwhile, calmly watching the process of denudation as if it really ministered to his comfort. It is not unusual here in the nesting season to see from the drawing-room windows several Jackdaws at a time busily engaged on the backs of the deer, as they leisurely chew the cud while basking in the sunshine, and it is only when three or four of them, alighting on an old buck, pick a quarrel with each other and try conclusions on the spot, that they get a gentle admonition from one of the horns of the animal" (p. 263).
The Dartford Warbler has been observed at West Heath and on East Harting Down (p. 272), and we have met with it also just beyond the limits of the parish on Bepton Down.
The rarer Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris), which has lately been admitted into the list of British Birds as an occasional summer visitant, has on one occasion been found nesting in West Sussex (p. 276), and the Grey Wagtail, or "Winter Wagtail," as it is often called (Motacilla boarula) has been observed to breed in
