It] THE HISTORY OF A ROOK. 81

standing in the precincts of our sacred grove. One of
them carried in his hand a weapon which asI have since
discovered is familiarly known among men asa pea-
rifle. This person was evidently the chief of the
party, for one of the others carried his ammunition,
while the awful occupation of the third became only
too soon apparent. The gunner kept up a steady fire
against such of our youthful companions as exposed
their bodies to his aim, and when any ill-fated rook
dropped upon the ground, as, alas! was but too fre-
quently the case, this third man hastened to gather
the bleeding body of the victim, and placed it beneath
a tree, where before long a goodly array of murdered
victims lay side by side. For the first few moments,
while this continuous firing was going on, I hardly
realised its meaning, or the perils of my own position.
But my brother, and sister, and myself were seated
upon a bough near the maternal nest, and afforded
but too obvious an object to the eager marksman,
Ere long I perceived him standing beneath our very
tree, with his deadly weapon pointing directly up-
wards. Even yet, we none of us realised the danger-
ous position in which we were placed; but in another
- moment the awful sound rang in our ears, and we
heard the shrill whistle of a bullet passing close above
ourheads. Being still, however, unacquainted with
the nature of firearms, we remained still and silent,
whilst the marksman hastily reloaded, and again level-
led his piece. This time the bullet struck the branch on
which we were seated, almost severing it in two, and
causing such a vibraticn as seriously disturbed us.
We all cawed lustily, and slightly shifted our posi-
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