122 The Rook. [Sess. 



came of the eggs was never discovered, but had the punish- 

 ment inflicted been for thieving, it is not too much to say it 

 would have been dealt with more summarily, and that three 

 weeks would not have elapsed before it was put into execu- 

 tion. 



Though rooks, like most of the feathered tribe, display a 

 deal of pugnacity at pairing time, there are few birds which 

 possess more of social instinct, as in all circumstances they 

 seem to enjoy the fellowship of each other. Though many 

 birds may be termed gregarious, none in this country so strictly 

 deserve the name as the rook. Starlings may be seen in lai'ge 

 flocks feeding on our meadows. Plover in immense numbers 

 frequent our fields. Wood-pigeons in thousands roost in our 

 woods, and feed on our turnips and on our stubbles. No sooner, 

 however, does spring come round, than they pair off to their 

 respective haunts, to breed in solitude. It is not so with 

 rooks. They invariably form themselves into colonies, scores 

 and sometimes hundreds of nests being constructed on trees 

 within a very limited area. 



Whether rooks are the foes or friends of the farmer has 

 long been a controverted question. Some assert they do a 

 very considerable amount of damage to crops, while others 

 maintain that any mischief they do is more than counter- 

 balanced by the immense numbers of slugs, wire-worms, &c., 

 they devour, which are so destructive to young plants. That 

 they work a certain amount of mischief, especially in dry sea- 

 sons, is true ; but they are often mistakenly charged with eat- 

 ing up the crops, while they are taking the best possible means 

 of protecting them. In illustration of this, some years ago, in 

 the early spring, a farm-grieve tried to stalk a flock of rooks 

 which were busy feeding on a field of grain. Meeting him, 

 he requested me to shoot some of them, as they were " playing 

 the vera mischief wi' the wheat." Concealing myself behind 

 a hedge, I asked him to go round and startle them, to which 

 he readily agreed, when I had no difficulty in killing a couple 

 as they flew overhead. " Man, that's grand ! " the grieve ex- 

 claimed, as he came forward. " I'll hing them up in the field 

 to scaur ithers." Carrying the two birds in my hand, we 

 walked to where the rooks had been feeding, when we dis- 

 covered numerous holes dug by their powerful beaks, and 



