102 WHISPERS FROM FAIRYLAND, [u.

 

the crowd of rooks present at this sad occurrence.
We were all much frightened at the report of the
double shot, and when we ascertained the cause, and
the extent of our loss, we were terribly embittered
against the perpetrator of so nefarious a deed. Were
zo mortal men, then, to be trusted ? Could not evena
sportsman, returning from the pursuit of hislegitimate
prey, withhold himself from attacking birds who had
never harmed him, and whose flesh, at all events at
that particular season of the year, was neither deli-
cate to the palate nor nutritious to the internal orga-
nisation of man? Was there no remedy against these
hard-hearted oppressors ?

We ruffled our feathers with intense anger, and
cawed forth our indignation in vociferous tones upon
the neighbouring trees. But, after a short time, anger
against those who were beyond the reach of our puny
vengeance gave way to deep, heartfelt sorrow for the
lamented dead. I may as well tell you that Glossy-
back, the friend and companion of my middle-age,
had been a deservedly popular bird, of singular purity
and amiability of disposition, and in fact the very light
and life of the rookery to which I belonged. This
circumstance, coupled with the peculiarly tragic nature
of his fate, induced some of us to determine upon
giving him and his fellow-victim a public funeral.

The idea had hardly been broached before it was
eagerly accepted by the whole of rookdom. Hard
by the old rockery there was a large plantation,
which, from its shape and formation, I should imagine
to have been formerly a large pond or lake. It sloped
‘away downwards from each side, forming a large, long