1887-88.] The Rook. I2f 



one off is most amusing. How they seize it with their power- 

 ful beaks, suspend themselves by it in the air, and bend it 

 backwards and forwards in a most persevering manner till it 

 eventually gives way, when they carry it off in triumph. 



After their own nest is completed, it is no unusual thing to 

 see rooks assisting others in building their nests — a neigh- 

 bourly act, which, with the exception of the swallow, is rarely 

 indulged in by the feathered tribe. That they occasionally vio- 

 late the eighth commandment is true ; but that they hold trials 

 and condenm the delinquents to death, which is speedily put 

 into execution, as asserted by some naturalists, is questionable. 

 Certainly no such incident has ever come within my observa- 

 tion. The habits of rooks, like those of all other birds, are 

 governed by uniform laws ; and while exceptional incidents, 

 which may be regarded as a departure from their normal 

 habits, are occasionally met with, they are, I am certain, 

 exceedingly rare. It has also been recorded that when a rook 

 has been found stealing sticks from a neighbouring nest, the 

 whole colony attack it, tear its nest to pieces, and drive it 

 from the rookery. This also, if correct, is very exceptional, 

 — though rooks frequently, after nests have been finished, evi- 

 dently change their mind, and in an incredibly short time 

 remove every stick. Why they should do so is one of the 

 many secrets in the habits of birds which the closest observers 

 have as yet failed satisfactorily to explain. 



In April last a pair of rooks built their nest on the top of 

 a chimney at The Inch, near Edinburgh, the house being im- 

 mediately surrounded by a rookery, and the entire park thickly 

 studded with trees. That they should have indulged in this 

 strange freak is remarkable, as rooks seldom build their nests 

 elsewhere than on trees when the facilities for their doing so 

 exist. In due course five eggs were dropped into the nest, 

 and the process of hatching entered upon. For a fortnight 

 the. hen bird — relieved occasionally by the male — sat closely 

 on the nest, and the following week young birds were expected 

 to be hatched. Though their motive will doubtless for ever 

 remain a mystery, a number of rooks one morning commenced, 

 and in a few hours removed every stick of the nest, using 

 these to build another nest in the wood, though by this time 

 a month behind the normal time for nidification. What be- 



