BIRDS IN FOG.
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE " SPEOTATOR.1 `Sin,—With reference to the remark in your interesting article on the above subject in the Spectator of December 27th, that
rooks and partridges do not seem to alter their habits in the fog so much as other birds that seek their living in the open country," you may think the following incident worth recording:—Some thirteen or fourteen years ago I was staying in an old house in the suburbs of London, the garden of which, although it was not more than five miles from Hyde Park
Corner, was the home of multitudinous birds. One afternoon, during a dense fog that turned day into night, a flight of rooks came over the garden, cawing noisily. They seemed to be wheeling about just overhead discussing the advisability of staying there, and after a few circuits descended into a cedar- tree of great size and beauty which stood close to the house, and after much talk there settled down for the night. There were many and far higher trees all round that one would have thought would have been more likely to show through the fog; possibly the thick foliage and the roomy branches of the cedar that enabled them to roost close together for mutual protection may have influenced their decision in the unusual eircum. stances in which they found themselves. The next morning, the fog having cleared off, the birds took their departure at day-break. They had evidently lost their way hopelessly, though they were probably close to home, for though there was no rookery in this particular garden, there was more than one in the immediate neighbourhood, and a large colony
within three miles. —I am, Sir, &o., H. F. B.
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