ROOK. ^ 85 



way in which they rob their neighbours of the ma- 

 terials collected for their nests, how they will wait 

 until one has gone off in search of building material 

 and then quietly appropriate what he has gathered, 

 they in their turn receiving the same treatment. So 

 fierce do their quarrels become, that it is no uncom- 

 mon thing to find a dead Rook beneath a rookery. 

 I once saw one at the top of a high chestnut hanging 

 head downwards, dead, within three feet of a nest. 

 How had he got there ? Had he been fixed there by 

 his conqueror as a warning to all the rest so busily 

 employed in repairing the nests all around ? I don't 

 know, I'm sure. 



As you know, the same rookery is used year after 

 year, the old nests being repaired each season, and 

 occasionally a new one added. They are sociable 

 birds and seem to prefer the tall trees near old man- 

 sions and dwellings, and certainly most people like to 

 have them there ; there is something in the " cawing" 

 of the Rooks that gives an air of comfort and homeli- 

 ness to the whole place. 



Operations begin as early as the end of February."^ 

 The nest is built of sticks and twigs, cemented with 

 mud and clay, and lined with turf, roots, moss, 

 leaves, and a few feathers. It is rather deep inside, 

 and compactly put together. The eggs, three to five, 

 differ considerably. The general type is greenish blue 



* Since writing this I have received the following communi- 

 cation from West Dean, 'five miles from Queenwood : " A curious 

 date for Rooks to attempt to rear young, 27th October, 1894. 

 There is at the present time a Rook sitting in a nest which has 

 recently been built by a pair of birds on one of the large elm 

 trees which form an avenue adjoining the rookery, and lead- 

 ing from the road to Mr. Wooley's farm, called Church Farm." 



