ROOK. 273 



1864, when such portions of the turnip crop in this 

 county as sui'vived the long continued drought, seemed 

 as likely to be wholly destroyed by the thick white 

 grubs,"*^ which in autumn burrow down to the very base 

 of the roots, I observed unusually large numbers of 

 rooks settling in the turnip fields, busily turning up 

 with their strong bills these destructive creatures, which 

 formed at that time the chief topic of conversation and 

 complaint amongst our farmers. 



Much has been written, also, of late in the " Zoolo- 

 gist," and other journals, on the supposed carnivorous 

 tastes of the rook. It is perfectly certain that they 

 will at times devour the young nestlings of other 

 birds, more particularly of the missel-thrush; and 

 I know an instance of a rook being shot with a young 

 song-thrush in its bill, but these, it must be remembered, 

 are exceptional cases, and individual peculiarities by no 

 means estabhsh the rook as a carnivorous species. When 

 occasionally seen on dead carcases, I believe that the 

 maggots engendered by putrefaction are the objects of 

 their search, without any relish for carrion. In common 

 also with their near relatives, the black and the hooded 

 crows, rooks are particularly partial to a fish diet, fre- 

 quenting the shores of brackish waters, mussel-scawps 

 on the beach or adjacent salt marshes. Large numbers 

 in autumn and winter, and, indeed, a few at all seasons, 

 may be seen at low water, examining the wet sands and 

 rocks for any fishy substances left by the waves ; and 

 the late Rev. G. Glover, of Southrepps, in a com- 

 munication to Mr. Hunt (British Ornithology), thus 

 refers to the extreme regularity with which these 

 visits are made to the sea-shore as observed by 



* See an admirable paper on " The Turnip Grrub," by Edward 

 Newman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., in the "Field," of December 24th, 

 1864, p. 442. This grub is the offspring of a moth, Agrotis segetum, 



2n 



