STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



pieces of dry mould with his bill, and digs among the tufts of grass, to see if 

 any grubs have harboured there. 



Towards evening, the rooks collect into straggling flocks, and come back 

 to their homes to roost. Every summer evening, at the same hour, they sail 

 over the garden to their abode in the tree-tops, with the regularity of 

 clockwork. 



In hot weather they suffer greatly from the absence of moist food, and 

 were it not for their early breakfast, would be badly off. They are seen 

 wandering" by hedges and ditches, looking for grasshoppers or what insects 

 they can find ; and if they have young ones, their efforts to procure food are 

 ceaseless. 



In autumn all the family cares of the rook are over, and he leads a life 

 of ease and of enjoyment. He puts on a new suit of glossy black, and wanders 

 at large over the country. Sometimes he and his friends visit gardens and 

 orchards, but in this case one or two rooks are always perched on the wall, to 

 give notice of danger. 



But though the staple food of the rook is worms and grubs, he has no 

 objection to other fare. He will eat seeds and acorns and beech-nuts, and, 

 when he can get them, eggs. 



In the winter the rook is in as great distress as during a dry summer. 

 If the snow lies a long time on the ground, nothing is to be found. The rooks 

 then become desperate, and attack the corn-ricks in the farmyard, and do a 

 great deal of mischief 



The distance to which the rooks fly in search of food is very great. They 

 will go twenty miles and back by the afternoon If the rooks come back 

 earlier than usual, there is sure to be a fall of snow or of rain the next day. 



There is an old saying, " As happy as a rook on a Sunday," and some 

 people think that rooks know when Sunday comes round. They seem to 

 take it for granted that nobody is at home, and will venture much nearer to 

 the house than on any other day, and take liberties not to be thought of at 

 any other time. They seem quite at their ease, and aware that no gun is to 

 be fired on a Sunday. 



