The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-15
ROCKS At EVENING.
THE CLAMOR THEY MAKE,
THEIR STRANGE FLIGHT

vera Mysterious English Bird.
The evening uproar of the rocks is,
to my mind. one of the most fascina-
ting things in English bird life. A
hundred and twenty years ago the nat
uralist of SeIbourne mentioned the
scene in one of his letters to DANES
harrington. He dwelt upon the tumult
of the birds just before dusk, when
they made the great down above his
home their rendezvous.
There they wheel round in the air
and sport and dive in playful man
ner, all the while exerting their voices
and making a loud cawing, which, be-
ing blended and softened by the dis
lance that we at the village are below
them, becomes a confused noise of
Gliding" Often at sunset one has
watched that scene at distance on an
October or November day, and very eff
fective these black wings are, as seen
against the pale glow Of the sky.
That is one rock scene every county
dweller knows we'll. Another is on the
Jay "AASAA t4AC bll 10 al Z
blown about the skies over their nest
trees. A third is the coming home 'in
long strings" as White saw them, as
| light begins to fall.
In "Locksley Hail. it is the many
wintered crow" Il. E., rook) that leads
the changing rookery home" though
one doubts very much whether there is
any good ground Cor saying that the
bird which chances to be first in the
string is particularly aged. On the
contrary, it seems quite as likely that
he or she may be one of the young
birds of the year which escaped the
rock rife last May.
| But one should sometimes go nearer,
and under the dark nest trees listen
| for while to the rocks Saying their
prayers" as the little girl, lin the true
spirit of physico-theology," put it,
though she was too young to be
aware that the Scriptures have said of
the Deity-that He feedeth the ravens
who call upon Him.
The scene beneath the rookery at
this time of year, just before and for a
/ little while after dark, is very curious.
/ Some naturalists have given careful re-
cords of the times at which rocks re-
visit their nest trees after the nesting
season. Dates late In June. at the end
of October and in December are men
toned.
| But / am sure that. in the case of
many rookeries, at any rate, the birds
roost in and about their nest trees
during a great part of the year. Last
May 1 noticed them at about sunset
above their nest trees on the fateful
rook-shooting day. 1t may have been
fancy, but it was my idea that on that
day their incessant cries and uneasi-
ness as they lowered for long about
their homes, were full of misery-of
that wild unrest that lives in woe"
l do not know whether they actually
slept in heir nest trees that night,
round which they wheeled and lowered
with tun1ult. The idea that they were
lamenting over their missing young be-
came so painful that it was q relief to
leave the spot.
But now. at and after dusk, there is
tumult and restlessness Of an intense
nature. though there is no cause to la
ment their missing black children. For
fully half an hour the uproar contin-
ues; indeed. / should say that. from
the time that the rocks first arrive
home to the time when the hush is
final and complete, the period Of rest
lessness Is often getting on for an hour.
Long after the perching has been eff
fected--a perfectly simple business
c11rpIXy fbnnoh I1f1inrn11sIU
procrastinated- the uproar continues
Multitudinous voices and tones strike
an the ear as one stands beneath the
great trees in the dark. Among these
one seems to recognize one that sounds
like "carack, carack." like "car-r-r,
car-r-r," like simple cav. cav"
There are various gurglings, too, and
perfectly indescribable vocal odds and
ends; while every now and then the
jackdaws, which at this time of year
will both forage and sleep with the
rocks, cut in with a perkier note.
A lady who Is interested in birds,
and has watched the rocks. tells me
she is sure the birds are just showing
one another, and clamoring for pet
perches, to which they attach magma
ry rights. But though now and then
there are sounds of jostling, and excla-
nations that you may be inclined to
regard as expostulatory, there Is clear
ly, think, something much less obvi-
Gus underlying this evening symn in
rookland. There is a certain profound
unrest, the cause of which has yet to
be explained.
With human beings the influences Of
evening and of the oncoming night are
commonly sedative. Night slides in on
us and Gains: it disDels the restless
ness of the "pitiful day." Seemingly it
is otherwise with some wild creatures
that, with us, are day-faring in habit.
The chinking Of the backbirds at
roosting time and the "coketing" of the
pheasants remind one a little of the
rock uproar at the close of day, but
they are not preceded by the rocks
wheelings and tossings in the air The
cutlery at bedtime ofthea nimals Of va
rious orders and species in geological
gardens is familiar to many people, but
that is babel caused by the sounds of
the day creatures which want to go to
sleep, and the sounds of the night
proving creatures, which in their wild
state would ordinarily be on the move
at this hour.
Standing under the trees ct nightfall
and listening to the rocks, one may re-
alize how little one knows. can ever