THE UTILITY OF BIRDS. 217 



and fired at, as they too often are in this country 

 by way of amusement, and a wanton and cruel 

 one it is. 



Pheasants are often objected to by farmers as 

 injurious to their crop of wheat, whereas they 

 are amongst the best friends the farmer has, 

 devouring immense numbers of wire-worms and 

 grubs. Partridges, also, clear away many ob- 

 noxious insects from land. 



But, perhaps, the rook is the best friend the 

 farmer has, although, till of late years, they 

 were cruelly destroyed, and dead rooks might 

 have been seen suspended on sticks, in wheat- 

 fields, to drive away or frighten these birds from 

 coming on it. The farmers, in many counties, 

 have now found out their mistake. They see 

 rooks following their ploughs, as the soil is 

 turned up, and devouring the larvae of cock- 

 chafers, wire-worms, and other insects which 

 feed on the roots of newly-sown wheat. Nor is 

 this all the benefit they confer on the farmer. 

 As the grain springs up, they search for and 

 devour those plagues of the farmer, the wire- 

 worms, leaving the sprouting grain untouched. 

 This has been proved by examining the crop 

 of a rook, in which no wheat was found, but 



