404 THE HOMING OF ROOKS. 



that the birds come to a mutual understanding about 

 this before they disperse, and this is a further instance 

 of that exercise of thought which we find pervading 

 the societies of members of the animal kingdom which 

 are gregarious in their habits. Some kinds of birds are 

 diurnal and feed only during the day, reassembling to 

 pass the night in flocks. A good example of this is 

 the common rook (Corvus Frugilegus)\ their nightly 

 rendezvous is mostly among the old trees whereon 

 they nest in spring time, and their coming home to 

 roost at dusk is practised with such regularity that by 

 noting the passing of the flocks to their roosting place,, 

 and timing them with a watch, it will be found they 

 return almost to the moment at the same hour every 

 evening, for days together. These birds as we know 

 are dispersed all over the country by day, in pairs or 

 even as single birds. Again there are the birds of 

 nocturnal habits, who feed mostly, or perhaps altogether 

 during the night: their habits of course are the exact 

 reverse of those of the rook as regards time, but in 

 other respects are very similar: we find most wild 

 fowl in the ordinary acceptation of the term, such as 

 the wild duck (Anas Bos c has), the widgeon (Anas 

 Penelope), and the teal (Anas Creeca), with many others 

 following these conditions of life, probably because they 

 are then less liable to be interrupted than by daylight. 



In a thickly inhabited country like Great Britain , 

 these birds when undisturbed mostly remain asleep upon 

 some quiet sheet of water, by day, in hard times; or 

 if they are not fatigued by the previous night's wan- 

 derings, they pass the time in swimming about and 

 amusing themselves, or in feeding if that is practicable ; 

 but generally soon after dark they all take wing and 



