Birds. 143 



being felled in which they nestled, or that they had been 

 destroyed by the prejudiced farmers. I am the more in- 

 clined to be of this opinion, because we have many rooks in 

 this neighbourhood, where the cockchafer is not known as a 

 destructive insect ; and I know that insects of that class and 

 their larvae are the most favourite food of the rook. 



I will mention another proof of the utility of the rook, 

 which occurred in this neighbourhood many years ago : — 

 A flight of locusts visited Craven, and they were so numerous 

 as to create considerable alarm among the farmers of the 

 district. They were, however, soon relieved from their 

 anxiety ; for the rooks flocked in from all quarters by thou- 

 sands and tens of thousands, and devoured them so greedily 

 that they were all destroyed in a short time. Such, at least, 

 is the account which is given ; and I have heard it repeatedly 

 mentioned as the reason why the late Lord Ribblesdale was 

 so partial to rooks. But I have no means of ascertaining 

 how far this is true, except general report. 



It was stated in the newspapers, a year or two back, that 

 there was such an enormous quantity of caterpillars upon 

 Skiddaw, that they devoured all the vegetation on the moun- 

 tain, and people were apprehensive they would attack the 

 crops in the enclosed lands; but the rooks (which are fond of 

 high ground in. the summer), having discovered them, in a 

 very short time put a stop to their ravages. — T. G. Cli- 

 theroe, Lancashire. June 30. 1832. 



Mr. Waterton, in his valuable essay "on the supposed pouch 

 under the bill of the rook" (Vol. V. p. 512.), incidentally shows 

 that the rook is a very extensive destroyer of insects ; and he 

 would doubtless greatly gratify our readers would he pur- 

 posely express his opinion on the merits and demerits of 

 this bird. An extract from the Essex Herald newspaper 

 has long lain by (the date of the year has not been preserved, 

 but was probably 1827), which expresses sentiments so appo- 

 site to those of T. G., that we have no doubt of their being 

 deemed worthy of the space they will occupy. — J. D. 



Utility of preserving Birds on Farms and in Orchards. — 

 An extensive experiment appears to have been made in some 

 of the agricultural districts on the Continent, the result of 

 which has been the opinion that farmers do wrong in de- 

 stroying rooks, jays, sparrows, and indeed birds in general, 

 on their farms, particularly where there are orchards. That 

 birds do mischief occasionally among ripe corn there can be 

 no doubt ; but the harm they do in autumn is amply com- 

 pensated by the good they do in spring, by the destructive 

 havoc they make among the insect tribes. The quantity of 



