INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 831 



uoctua moths are their prey j in quest of which these curious birds 

 may be seen in the twilight of a summer evening skimming round 

 large trees, when the moths are on the wing. 



'J'here are many other birds which, though not habitually, are 

 occasionally insectivorous j witness our common domestic poultry 

 both Anseres and GalliYKB, which though naturally granivorous, 

 devour every kind of insect they can capture. Nor should the 

 woodpecker, (PiccE,) be forgotten j their province is to destroy the 

 insects and their larva which prey on timber, for which their 

 climbing powers, and long flexible barbed tongues, are well adapted. 

 These beautiful birds have been accused of injuring timber trees ; 

 but the fact is they never bore into sound trees, but only into those 

 which are hollow. 



It only remains to mention one more family of native birds 

 which are more extensively useful than, perhaps, all the ethers put 

 together. This is the common and often persecuted rook : their 

 numbers, voraciousness, and powers of scent to find, and of beak 

 to dig up the larva of the numerous beetles which are so destruc- 

 tive to corn and grass, culinary vegetables, and even shrubs and 

 trees, is productive of the greatest benefit, even in a national point 

 of view. This may appear extravagant to those who are not well 

 acquainted with the economy of the rook, nor have attended 

 to their mode of feeding, or nature of their food. 



The rook is entirely vermivorous, unless these are denied by 

 severe drought or frost. At such seasons the worms and grubs 

 which the rooks prefer descend into the earth far out of reach 5 and 

 then the clamorous flocks are compelled to fall on the softened 

 seed-corn, just as it is springing out of ground 5 or on the standing 

 crops before they are quite ready for the sickle. In dry seasons 

 they will sometimes visit the cherry orchards, where, as in the 

 other cases, they very soon do a great deal of damage 3 luckily 

 however no bird is more easily scared ; a sentinel or even the 

 semblance of one in a crouching posture will keep them off. The 

 sight of a gun or the smell of gunpowder alarms them greatly 5 so 

 that a piece of dark coloured cloth dipped in a solution of gun- 

 powder and brimstone, and stuck on a stake in the field, will be 

 a sufficient defence for the crop. In this case, as in many others, 

 we cannot have an advantage without some kind of drawback. So 

 if the rooks do a little harm now and then, they may well be 

 excused even if there were no means of prevention ; as the amount 

 of positive good they do at all other times, most abundantly makes 

 up for all their depredations. 



The Linnaean names have been employed in the foregoing 

 sketch J because so much alteration has lately taken place in the 

 nomenclature of objects of natural his'lory, that there is really no 

 knowing who to follow. Baron Cuvier was deemed a sufficient 

 authority to settle all such matters ; but others of far less note in 

 the science are every day making changes which are by no means 

 conducive to its advancement. 



M. 



