PASSERES. 



ROOK. 



289 



CORVIDJi. 



CoRVUS FRUGILEGUS, LinnSBUS*. 



THE ROOK. 



Corviis frugilegus. 



The Rook, as Pennant says, is the Corviis of Virgil f, no 

 other bird of this name being so eminently gregarious. The 

 sociability of its disposition, however, is not confined to its 

 seeking the company of its own kind and constantly living 

 in flocks at all seasons of the year, but is further shewn by 

 its apparent preference of the abodes of man, near which to 

 establish itself ; for it has been remarked that a rookery is 

 seldom seen except in the immediate vicinity of houses, and 

 it is also declared that instances are not wanting of an ancient 



* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, J. p. 156 (1766). 



+ It may be remarked that the district in which the poet was born and educated 

 is, as will presently be shewn, almost the only part of Italy in which the Rook 

 breeds. 



