It was through inquiring about the age of the rookery that this thought took shape.

No one could tell me how long the rooks had built there, nor were there any passing allusions in old papers to fix the date.

There was no tradition of it among the oldest people; all they knew was that the rooks had always been there, and they seemed to indicate a belief that there the rooks would always remain.

It seemed to me, however, that the site of their city was slowly travelling, and in a few generations might be found on the other side of the Chace.

Some of the trees where the nests were most numerous were decaying, and several were already deserted.