192 

 ROOK. 



CORYTTS FBT7GHLEGITJS, Lin. 



The Eook 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 Britain 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 

 larvae, 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 crustacese, dead 

 fish, &c. 



