CROWS 97 



gillivray, vol. iii. p. 731 ; Thompson, vol. i. p. 

 309; Gray's "Birds of the West of Scotland," 

 p. 170; and De Selys-Longchamps, Ihis, 1870, pp. 

 450, 451.) In Yorkshire also it is said to pair 

 habitually with the Carrion Crow (Williamson, Proc. 

 Zool. Soc, 1836, p. 7&). See also Naturalist, 1865, 

 p. 101; Hancock, " Cat. Birds, Northumberland," pp. 

 32, 36 ; Seebohm, " Siberia in Asia," p. 30 ; Newton, 

 Yarrell's British Birds, 4th ed., vol. ii. p. 274. 



ROOK. Corvus frugilegus, Linnaeus. PI. 15, figs. 4, 5. 

 Length, 18 in.; bill, 2-25 in.; wing, 12-5 in.; tarsus, 

 2-25 in. 



Resident and generally distributed. The British 

 Association Reports on migration show that it is a 

 regular autumnal migrant from the Continent to 

 the eastern counties of England. In Oct. and 

 Nov. 1893 an extraordinary number of Rooks 

 were observed on migration. See reports by J. H. 

 Jenkinson, R. M. Barrington, H. S. Byron, and 

 D. Mackenzie {Field, March 3, 17, 24, and April 7, 

 1894). As to the injury done to crops by Rooks, 

 and their propensity to steal the eggs of game birds 

 and wildfowl, see Zool, 1888, pp. 375-379. On 

 the other hand, their utility in destroying the larvae 

 of the Cockchafer, Melolontha vulgaris, the Antler- 

 moth, Chareas graminis, and the Crane-fly, Tlpula 

 oleracea, so destructive to the roots of grain and 

 young clover, and in devouring the roots of the 

 couch-grass, a troublesome weed to the farmer, is 

 well vouched for {Zool, 1866, p. 297). They render 



