THE UTILITY OF BIRDS. 219 



you well know, called the daddy-long-legs, which 

 ate the roots of the turf. Now, this park is fre- 

 quented from morning till night by numbers of 

 Greenwich pensioners, so that the rooks were 

 disturbed when they came to feed on the grubs. 

 The consequence was, that a considerable ex- 

 pense was incurred by turning and burning the 

 turf, covering the ground with lime, and sowing 

 it with grass seeds. 



In addition to the utility of the rook, I should 

 mention their social habits, living together in 

 large communities, and pleasing every lover of 

 Nature, as they do, with their varied flights, 

 and harsh, yet pleasing notes. In fact, they 

 add greatly to the pleasures of a country life. 



The owl must not be omitted in the list of 

 useful birds, although, alas 1 it has been reck- 

 lessly and wantonly destroyed by keepers, and, 

 consequently, is not so common in this country 

 as it formerly was. It is a pretty sight to see 

 it on a moonlit evening, flying along hedge- 

 rows and quartering fields in search of mice, 

 numbers of which it destroys, but never, I 

 have reason to believe, young pheasants or 

 partridges. 



The goldfinch must also be noticed as a useful 



