232 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. x. 



2. Having sown a part of a field with potatoes in response 

 to the national appeal to farmers to grow this crop, I was ver}'' 

 soon struck with the propensity of Rooks to eat them. The 

 old potatoes which are sown in the drill sometimes whole, 

 sometimes in halves, as " settings," are quickly grubbed up 

 by those strong beaks, and the exultant Rook flies away 

 with his spoil. It is true that after a while the crop of 

 j)otatoes, or what is left of it, can be made safe bj' the process 

 of " moulding iip '' with soil when the plant is about six 

 inches high, but this takes time, and labour in Norfolk is 

 getting scarce. 



3. This year, as usual when November arrived, the Rooks 

 Avere occupying themselves with my wheat-fields, not for 

 the grubs which they ought to have been eating, but for the 

 sake of the newly-driUed grains of wheat. Troublesome as 

 they are in autumn, they are still worse on the barleys in 

 spring, at which season rows of holes made in the ground 

 by their strong beaks may be seen. It is wonderful what 

 instinct, or perhaps a sense of smell, shows them exactly 

 where to dig for the grain, but somehow they seem to know ; 

 they may, however, be partially baulked by cross harrowing, 

 which makes the grain lie rather deeper, and it is then not 

 so easy to find. 



4. In December an undue partiality is shown by Rooks 

 for swede turnips, into which they driU holes, thereby making 

 them rot ; if they would consume a few entirely instead of 

 eating a little of a great many, they would do much less harm. 



Some say that the habits of the Rook have changed for the 

 worse of late years, but it has always been a disputed point 

 whether to kill them or spare them— a question which has 

 come under debate before the Norfolk Chamber of Agriculture, 

 as has the Sparrow question. One cannot blame our farmers 

 for getting exasperated, and doing what is illegal, namely 

 lajdng poison. Under Section 8 of The Protection of Animals 

 Act (1911) poisoned grain may be laid under certain re- 

 strictions for vermin, but whether '" vermin " includes Rooks 

 is a matter of opinion. At any rate there is no objection to 

 steeping the wheat grain in " Corvusine," a tarry mixture 

 sold in tins, which is supposed to make it safe from birds. 

 Some farmers do not like it as it clogs the drill, and in any 

 case it is not often used for barley and oats. 



Starling {Sturnus v. vulgaris). — Our Norfolk agriculturists 

 also find a great deal of fault with the Starling, but they do 

 good on clover. The clover fields are generally cut in July, 

 Avhen the}' are quickly visited by bands of Starhngs, which 



