C O R V U S. 



147 



it is driven by the severity of the winter. In Russia 

 and the tf est of Siberia, it is far from rare, emigrating- 

 early in March to the environs of Woronetz, and 

 mingling- with the common crows. In England they 

 are stationary, but in France, Silesia, and many other 

 countries, most of them are birds of passage. In 

 France they are the forerunners of winter, whereas 

 in Siberia they announce the summer. Their flights 

 are sometimes so dense as to darken the air, being 

 frequently joined, not only by the common crow and 

 jackdaw, but also by troops of starlings. Every 

 spring they resort to breed on the same trees, prefer- 

 ring the loftier branches, and building sometimes ten 

 or twelve nests, which are one above another on the 

 same tree, whilst a great many trees thus furnished 

 occur in the same forest, or rather in the same district. 

 They seek not retirement and solitude, but rather 

 settle near our dwellings. When a pair are employed 

 in constructing the nest, one remains to guard it, 

 while the other is procuring the suitable materials ; 

 for otherwise the structure would, it is alleged, be 

 instantly pillaged by the other rooks which have fixed 

 on the same tree, each carrying oft' a twig to its own 

 dwelling. Rookeries are sometimes scenes of violent 

 contests between the old and the new inhabitants, 

 whether the intruders be of the same or of different 

 species. A pair which had in vain attempted to 

 establish themselves in a rookery at no great distance 

 from the Exchange of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. having 

 been compelled to abandon their purpose, took refuge 

 on the spire of that building ; and though con- 

 stantlv interrupted by others of their own species, 

 succeeded in completing their nest at the top of the i 

 vane, and reared their young, apparently regardless 

 of the noise of the people underneath. The nest 

 and its inhabitants were in course turned round by 

 every change of wind, and yet the parents persevered 

 in maintaining the same position for ten years, when 

 the spire was taken down. As soon as rooks have 

 finished their nest, and before they lay, the male 

 besrins to feed the females, which receive their bounty 

 with a fondling tremulous voice, fluttering wings, and 

 all the little blandishments that are expected by the 

 young while in a helpless state. This gallant deport- 

 ment of the males is continued through the whole 

 season of incubation. The female lays four or five 

 eggs, which are smaller than those of the raven, but 

 marked with broader spots, especially at the large 

 end. After the young have taken wing there is a 

 general deserting of the nest trees, but the families 

 return again to them in October to roost, and to 

 repair their dwellings. On the approach of winter, 

 however, they usually seek some more sheltered 

 situation at night, but generally assemble first in the 

 usual place, and then fly oft' together. Their autumnal 

 exercises of departing on their foraging excursions in 

 the morning, and returning in the evening, are familiar 

 to ordinary observation, and have been well described 

 by White and others. Though the forest may be 

 said to be their winter habitation, they generally visit 

 ilicir nurseries every day, preserving the idea of a 

 family, for which they begin to make provision early 

 in spring, the business of nidification being usually 

 accomplished in the month of March. 



The rook has but two or three notes, and makes no 

 great figure in a solo ; but when he performs in con- 

 cert, which is his chief delight, these notes, though 

 rough in themselves, being intermixed with those of 

 tue multitude, have, as it were, their ragged edges 



worn oft', and oecome harmonious, especially when 

 softened in the distant air. So marked is their dread 

 of a fowling-piece, that the country people allege they 

 even smell gunpowder ; but, if the gun be carefully 

 concealed from their view, a person with his pockets 

 full of gunpowder may approach very near them. 

 Among the favourite articles of their food is the grub 

 of the chafer, or beetle, which, if allowed to multi- 

 ply unchecked, would lay waste whole meadows and 

 cornfields. It must not be dissembled, however, that 

 rooks themselves are sometimes very injurious to new 

 sown wheat, just when it begins to germinate. The 

 severity of winter, when accompanied by a heavy fall 

 of snow, sometimes drives them down to the sea-shore, 

 where they are observed to feed on small shell-fish, 

 particularly the common periwinkle. Having raised 

 these last into the air, to about the height of fifty feet, 

 they let them fall among stones, stooping instantly 

 after their prey. If the shell is unbroken, they lift it 

 again and again ; and when the wind happens to carry 

 it out of the perpendicular direction, they toil much 

 and gain little. Frauds in the mode of procuring their 

 livelihood, as well as in that of building their nests, 

 are sometimes attempted among them, but which, 

 when discovered, meet with instant and condign 

 punishment. Indeed we can scarcely doubt that these 

 sagacious birds have ideas of property, unknown to 

 many of the inferior animals, as each pair, year after 

 year, assert their claim to the same nest ; and an at- 

 tempt to invade them, on the part of others, would, as 

 often happens, be punished not merely by the ag- 

 grieved individuals, but by the combined efforts of the 

 society, which clearly proves that they consider it as 

 an offence against the community. When tamed they 

 evince both confidence and attachment. 



The young of this species are, by some, reckoned 

 good for the table, but those habituated to better fare 

 will probably esteem them somewhat coarse. In order 

 to be at all edible, they must be skinned, and, even 

 then, they are exceedingly bitter, and not very nourish- 

 ing ; but the abundance in which they may be had 

 where there are extensive rookeries, renders the shoot- 

 ing of them when they are " branched," that is, when 

 they have left the nest but not taken to the wing, 

 rather a favourite exploit with the more humble de- 

 scription of sportsmen. The sport is, however, both 

 cowardly and cruel, not greatly superior to that of 

 shooting pigeons from a trap ; and the lamentations 

 which the parent birds make over their slain progeny 

 are not only painful to hear, but have a very strong 

 expression of reproach in them ; and the feelings 

 thereby produced are not lessened when we consider 

 the perfect confidence with which rooks congregate 

 near human habitations, and the great services which 

 they render to the cultivator. 



Corvus monedu/a, (the Jackdaw), or steeple crow, 

 called in Scotland the kae, which is very nearly the 

 sound of its natural voice. It is about fourteen inches 

 in length, twice as much in the stretch of the wings, 

 and weighs about nine ounces. The head is black, 

 the nape of the neck is smoke grey, the back greyish 

 black ; the wing-coverts and secondary quills black, 

 with violet reflections ; the under part bluish black ; 

 the bill and legs also black, and the i rides whitish grey. 

 This species is noisy, and, when tamed, it is mischie T 

 vous ; but in its general habits it resembles the rook, 

 in rarely plundering the nests of other birds, but rather 

 feeding upon insects,worms, and various sorts of se,ed<. 



The jackdaw, though it affects peculiar localities, 

 K2 



