ROOK. 25 J 



so well known, and requires a little more notice at our hands. 

 Immense numbers arrive on our shores every year, generally 

 during October and November, when I have observed them 

 coming in one steady stream, from early morning until late 

 afternoon, and often in company with Hooded Crows, Lap- 

 wings, Starlings, and Skylarks. The Migration Reports 

 contain many references to the autumnal migration of Rooks, 

 but the greater portion appear to land from Spurn southward, 

 though the Teesmouth is by no means neglected as a place of 

 arrival for these immigrants, and " rushes " occur almost 

 annually. In the autumn of 1902 there were more migrant 

 Rooks noted than I have previously known, and similar 

 reports are given from the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coasts. 

 In March there is a gathering of large flocks at the coast, 

 which seem to be emigrants about to depart on their return 

 journey.* 



After the breeding season both old and young collect 

 in dense flocks, and in the late afternoon wing their flight 

 to a chosen roosting place, not, as a rule, a Rookery, although 

 it may be near one. The members of several colonies often 

 congregate, accompanied by a small proportion of Jackdaws, 

 forming an immense swarm of birds, which on reaching the 

 roost make a considerable commotion and breaking of twigs. 

 Later in the year they are quieter in their demeanour, although 

 I am not aware that any actual Rookery is resorted to as a 

 roosting place in winter in like manner as in the nesting 

 season. The late P. Inchbald, writing in the Zoologist (1872, 

 p. 3021), recorded the dispersion of a Rookery by a small band 

 of four or five Carrion Crows, at Hovingham Lodge near York, 

 and at Ripon a colony was broken up in the spring of 1890 

 owing to its being harried by the same mischievous birds, 

 while at Beverley a Rookery was abandoned from a similar 

 cause. 



It is now a well-established fact that Rooks do immense 

 harm to eggs and young of game, poultry, and other birds, 



* In the Report, issued in 1903, by the British Association 

 Migration Committee, Mr. W. Eagle Clarke gives an exhaustive resume 

 of the migration of this species. 



