202 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



a careful inquiry instituted at the instance of the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society, appears to 

 prove him to be a granivorous rather than an 

 insectivorous bird. Sir John Gilmour, Bart., of 

 Montrave, sets forth the monthly dietary of 355 

 Rooks shot from March 1894 to February 1895 in- 

 clusive. This he shows to consist of at least 56 

 per cent, of grain. Although in the fields it may 

 be noted that the flocks of Rooks follow the plough- 

 n.ian rather than the sower, and a saving must 

 accrue to the farmer by the destruction of wire- 

 worms, etc., it is still clear that wherever Rooks 

 are allowed to increase unduly, they must inflict 

 a severe tax upon the land. 



The bare wattled appearance at the base of the 

 Rook's bill has given rise to considerable con- 

 troversy. In the young birds the base is feathered 

 as in the Crows, and it is only at the second moult 

 that the grey, parchment-like excrescence appears. 

 It has been stated that the feathers are worn awav 

 by the bird's habit of digging in the earth, but this 

 explanation fails, inasmuch as Rooks in captivitv, 

 where the possibility of digging has been denied, 

 have still developed the peculiarity. The more 

 reasonable theory is that in the long processes of 

 evolution, Nature, finding the feathers in the way, 

 has gradually brought about the change, just as 

 the head and neck of the vulture is denuded in order 

 that they may be plunged with less detriment into 

 the carcasses of the prey. 



The Rooks, and, indeed, all the Crow family, rise 

 awkwardly from the ground and appear to have 

 difficulty at first in dealing with their legs. One 



