CORVID/E. 



237 



THE ROOK. 



CORVUS FRUGILEOUS, LiniiaiUS. 



The Rook is even better known than tlie Jackdaw, owing to 

 its custom of living in noisy flocks throughout the year, and its 

 tendency to select the vicinity of human habitations for its 

 breeding-places. The rookeries still existing in London have often 

 been enumerated, but unfortunately their number is diminishing ; 

 and the same must be said of other large cities and towns. As 

 regards the country, the Rook is generally distributed throughout 

 England and Wales ; while in Scotland it has for some years been 

 increasing in numbers and northward range, breeding in Sutherland 

 and Caithness, and even at Kirkwall, Deerness and Melsetter, in the 

 Orkneys. In Skye there are now two large rookeries near Dun- 

 vegan, and two that are smaller ; but throughout Scotland generally 

 the increase of the Rook is not regarded with favour, for in default 

 of other food it undoubtedly pilfers eggs. To the Outer Hebrides, 

 Shetlands and Feeroes it is as yet only a straggler. In Ireland it is 

 common. Numbers visit our east coast in October and November 

 from the Continent, and a considerable return migration has been 

 observed early in the spring. 



Large flocks of Rooks made their ai)pearance towards the end of 



