ROOK. 551 



place, I could perceive nothing but some mud and small stones 

 partially covered with half-melted snow ; but on poking abaut 

 with the point of my umbrella, at length discovered a number 

 of grains of wheat which had been spilt in the course of a wheel 

 track. From early dawn until after sunrise they are generally 

 abroad, but in summer they usually repose for a time in the 

 middle of the day. Towards evening, collecting into large 

 straggling flocks, and uttering their loud and not unpleasant 

 cries, they betake themselves to their roosts, first wheeling 

 round in irregular gj^ations, with clamorous joy, then settling 

 in succession, and after a while sinking into repose. As they 

 neither attack other birds, nor are liable to be molested by 

 rapacious S23ecies, their life is comparatively quiet. From the 

 middle of June to the end of September, their plumage under- 

 goes its annual renovation ; and so gradual in general is the 

 change, that the simultaneous loss of a few feathers in the wings 

 or tail has little effect upon their flight, although individuals 

 are sometimes seen that experience considerable difficulty in 

 maintaining their ordinary speed. Their quills are often col- 

 lected by the herds, and although small, are superior to goose 

 quills for writing, provided the fingers of the person using them 

 be sufficiently flexible and delicate to adapt themselves to so 

 slender an instrument. 



YouxG. — The young are at first nearly bare, and of a black- 

 ish colour. When fledged, they are similar to the old birds, 

 but with much less gloss on their plumage, and having this 

 remarkable difference, that the fore part of the head is feathered, 

 and the nostrils and base of the bill concealed by straight and 

 stiff narrow feathers, as in other crows. It is only after they 

 have been abroad for some weeks that these parts begin to be 

 abraded. 



In some rookeries, especially those of small extent, in open 

 places, both young and old fly off in June, while in others 

 they remain all the year. In the former case, they generally 

 return for some days in autumn, and agajn absent themselves 

 until spring. I have not, however, been able to discover the 

 causes of these apparent anomalies. 



