OF SELBORNE. 177 
gating is to be considered. As to love and the care 
of their young, that is out of the question at this 
time of the year. 
Now as to the business of food. As these ani- 
mals are actuated by instinct to hunt for necessary 
food, they should not, one would suppose, crowd 
together in pursuit of sustenance, at a time when it 
is most likely to fail; yet such associations do take 
place in hard weather chiefly, and thicken as the 
severity increases. . As some kind of self-interest 
and self-defence is no doubt the motive for the pro- 
ceeding, may it not arise from the helplessness of 
their state in such rigorous seasons, as men crowd 
together when under great calamities, though they 
know not why? Perhaps approximation may dis- 
pel some degree of cold, and a crowd may make 
each individual appear safer from the ravages of 
birds of prey and other dangers. 
If | admire when I see how much congenerous 
birds love to congregate, I am the more struck 
when I see incongruous ones in such strict amity. 
If we do not much wonder to see a flock of rooks 
usualiy attended by a train of daws, yet it is strange 
that the former should so frequently have a flight of 
starlings for their satellites. Is it because rooks 
have a more discerning scent than their attendants, 
and can lead them to spots more productive of 
food? Anatomists say that rooks, by reason of two 
large nerves which run down between the eyes into 
the upper mandible, have a more delicate feeling in 
their beaks than other round-billed birds, and can 
grope for their meat when out of sight. Perhaps, 
then, their associates attend them on the motives of 
interest, as greyhounds wait on the motions of their 
