192 
ROOK. 
Corvus FRUGILEGUS, Lin. 
The Rook is generally rather larger than the 
Carrion Crow, from which it greatly differs in its 
habits. In the adult state it is easily distinguished 
by the naked and scurfy white skin at the base of 
the bill, and on the chin, produced by the abrasion 
of the bristly feathers which in the young bird 
cover this part and the nostrils. It is generally 
distributed in Great Brita and Ireland, being 
common in all the cultivated and partially wooded 
districts of the country. Unlike the Carrion Crow 
it is gregarious, often collecting in vast flocks, 
which breed together in groups of tall trees, termed 
rookeries. ‘The nest is large, and is composed of 
sticks and lined with fibrous roots, straw, wool, 
&c. The eggs, not exceeding four or five in num- 
ber, are of a bluish green colour, blotched with 
darker stains. The food of this species consists of 
larvee, with worms and insects, though they occa- 
sionally subsist on grain, potatoes, and other 
substances, and in very dry or snowy weather, 
frequent the sea-shore to feed on crustacez, dead 
fish, &e. 
