CORVIDM—ROOKS. 135 



More, writing in 1865, saj^s (33. 133) : 



" Mr. Laver of Colchester has informed Dr. C. R. Brae that the ' Dun Crow ' 

 occurs in great numbers near the Blackwater River in Essex, and [that] some 

 remain and breed there every year. Mr. Laver has frequently seen and taken the 

 nest on Osey Island, in the parish of Steeple, on Ramsey Island and at Paglesham. 

 His cousin, Mr. Robert Laver, has shot the old bird from the nest which is 

 generally that of the Carrion Crow." * * * " Dr. Bree has since written to say 

 that the trees in which the Hooded Crow used to breed have been cut down in one 

 of the localities whence he kindly endeavoured to obtain specimens." 



Prof. Newton, commenting on their reported breeding in this locality, says (37. 

 ii. 279) : "it would seem that this is not so now," which is certainly the case. In 

 reply to my enquiry, Dr. Laver writes : " There can be no mistake about their 

 breeding, as stated in the Ibis. They bred on a haulm-wall in Foulness, but I 

 have not heard of a nest for years, as I now never visit that district." The Rev. 

 J. C. Atkinson never knew of a nest in Essex, and in reply to an enquiry, Mr. J. 

 F. T. Wiseman of Paglesham informs me that he never knew of its breeding in 

 that district. 



Rook : Corvus frugi legits. 



A very abundant resident. Instances of its nesting in the autumn 

 and winter are by no means rare, and varieties of various kinds^ 

 chiefly white or pied, are rather com- 

 mon. A very large proportion of young 

 Rooks have a white spot between 

 the branches of the lower mandible 

 (40- X. 339 & 40. xii.). 



It is stated (Chelmsford Chronicle^ June 14th, 

 1878) that during a thunderstorm a few days 

 before rook, head of, % 



" On a field on Chappie Farm, Goldhanger, five Rooks were struck and killed 

 while on the ground, and four horses which had just been ploughing over 

 the spot may thus be said to have had a narrow escape. A tree hard-by was 

 untouched." 



During winter, the trees at Birch, in which the Herons build, are occupied by 

 Rooks, many thousands roosting there every night. During a visit paid to the 

 Heronry on April i6th, 1888, by Mr. E. A. Fitch and myself, we were surprised 

 to see the ground below the trees completely strewn with small fragments of 

 white and red brick, disgorged by the Rooks in their pellets. Old india-rubber bands, 

 gathered by the birds from the Colchester and London manure, are not uncommon. 

 In 1883, there was a nest in one of the trees immediately adjoining the Museum 

 at Saffron Walden. 



For some unexplained reason, all the Rooks in our Rookery at Lindsell 

 Hall, near Dunmow, suddenly left on March loth, 1880, when in the middle of 

 their building operations, and did not return that year, though they had nested 

 there regularly and in large numbers for many years. The same occurred at 

 Fingrith Hall, Blackmore, the same spring, all the Rooks taking their departure 

 after a good deal of nest building had been accomplished, except one pair which 

 reared their young successfully. In the following year they returned to their 

 nests at both places. 



I have been told that about forty or fifty years since a number perished through 



