THE COMMON ROOK. 177 



food ; and, though several instances are recorded of 

 its visits to our island, I know but one mention of 

 its having bred in England. A pair was brought 

 to me very early in August, and the breast of the 

 female being nearly bare of feathers, as is observ- 

 able in sitting birds, it is very probable that she 

 had a nest in the neighbourhood. 



Gesner has called the common rook (corvis 

 frugilegus) a corn-eating bird. Linnaeus has some- 

 what lightened this epithet by considering it only 

 as a gatherer of corn ; to neither of which names 

 do I believe it entitled, as it appears to live solely 

 upon grubs, various insects, and worms. It has at 

 times great difficulty to support its life, for in a 

 drv spring or summer most of these are hidden in 

 the earth beyond its reach, except at those uncer- 

 tain periods when the grub of the chaffer is to be 

 found ; and in a hot day we see the poor birds 

 perambulating the fields, and wandering by the 

 sides of the highways, seeking for and feeding 

 upon grasshoppers, or any casual nourishment that 

 may be found. At those times, was it not for its 

 breakfast of dew-worms, which it catches in the 

 gray of the morning, as it is appointed the earliest 

 of risers, it would commonly be famished. In the 

 hot summer of 1825, many of the young brood of 

 the season perished from want ; the mornings were 

 without dew, and consequently few or no worms 

 were to be obtained ; and we found them dead 

 under the trees, having expired on their roostings. 

 It was particularly distressing, for no relief could 



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