THE BOOK. 

 (Dec. 3, 1887.) 



AMONG the many species of birds that live, or 

 rather nest, in London, the rook is by no means 

 the least common, though it is year by year 

 becoming scarcer, and will, we fear, be extinct as a 

 London bird within a measurable period. The two 

 main causes of the diminution of its numbers are, 

 firstly, that the speculative builder is rapidly 

 destroying the fine old trees, once so common in 

 London and its suburbs, in which the bird loves to 

 build; and, secondly, the unfortunate propensity 

 of old trees, especially elms, when exposed to the 

 smoke-polluted atmosphere of London, to decay 

 at the top. It is well-known that a nesting rook 

 has as much objection to an unsound tree as the 

 rat of the proverb is said to have to a sinking 

 ship. If rooks, having nested for years in any 

 particular tree, leave it without being disturbed, 

 that tree may, without examination, be declared 

 unsound. 



It is curious that the rook should, among 

 Londoners, be so intimately connected as it is with 

 the country ; for, in truth, there are few birds 

 that more readily adapt themselves to life in a 



