182 The Rook. 



up around them ; but we are not prepared to 

 admit this in view of the rookery in Gray's Inn, 

 and of the fact that some of the birds when they 

 left Kensington Gardens joined the old rookery in 

 Holland Park, many of them settling in the trees 

 skirting the high road. Had their objection to 

 traffic and buildings driven them from their old 

 haunts, they would surely have gone further afield, 

 and have chosen some quieter spot. The truth, 

 however, is that rooks have a strong affection for 

 what Gilbert White called " neighbourhoods," 

 though, unlike the sparrows and pigeons, they 

 cannot from the nature of their food, which 

 consists principally of worms and insects, obtain 

 their living in the streets, but are obliged to seek 

 it far from their homes. 



Rooks can hardly be said to have any permanent 

 habitation, though year by year they nest in the 

 same trees ; for no sooner are their young able to 

 fly and provide for themselves than they leave 

 their nest-trees, and, forming large companies, 

 choose some woodland as a roosting-place. 



London rooks are not exempt from this habit ; 

 in fact, they leave town with as great regularity 

 and about the same time as do their fashionable 

 human friends. In October, about the time known 

 as " St. Luke's Summer," they return to their 

 nest-trees, apparently to see that their homes are 

 in order, and at this time they may be seen busily 

 carrying sticks, and evidently engaged in making 

 repairs necessary to ensure the safety of their 



