582 



STrnuSurj) at Natural 5?t 



"There is no wild bird in England so 

 completely gregarious as the Rook, or so 

 regular in its daily movements. The Ring- 

 doves will assemble in countless multitudes, 

 the Finches will unite in vast assemblies, 

 and Waterfowl will flock in thousands to 

 the protected lake, during the dreary months 

 of winter : but when the returning sun 

 spreads joy and consolation over the face of 

 nature, their congregated numbers are dis- 

 solved, and the individuals retire in pairs 

 to propagate their respective species. The 

 Rook, however, remains in society the year 

 throughout. In flocks it builds its nest, in 

 flocks it seeks for food, and in flocks it retires 

 for food." . . . . '' Sometimes these birds 

 perform an evolution, which is, in this part 

 of the country, usually called the shooting 

 of the Rooks. Farmers tell you, that this 

 shooting portends a coming wind. He who 

 pays attention to the flight of birds has, no 

 doubt, observed this downward movement. 

 When Rooks have risen to an immense 

 height in the air, so that, in appearance, they 

 are scarcely larger than the lark, they sud- 

 denly descend to the ground, or to the tops 

 of trees exactly under them. To effect this, 

 they come headlong down, on pinion a little 

 raised, but not expanded, in a zig-zag direc- 

 tion (presenting alternately their back and 

 breast to you), through the resisting air, 

 which causes a noise similar to that of a 

 rushing wind. This is a magnificent and 

 beautiful sight to the eye of an ornithologist. 

 It is idle for a moment to suppose that it 

 portends wind. It is merely the ordinary 

 descent of the birds to an inviting spot be- 

 neath them, where, in general, some of their 

 associates are already assembled, or where 

 there is food to be procured. When we con- 

 sider the prodigious height of the Rooks at 

 the time they begin to descend, we con- 

 clude that they cannot effect their arrival 

 at a spot perpendicular under them by any 

 other process so short and rapid." " Rooks 

 remain with us the year throughout. If 

 there were a deficiency of food, this would 

 not be the case ; for, when birds can no 

 longer support themselves in the place which 

 they have chosen for their residence, they 

 leave it, and go in quest of nutriment else- 

 where. Thus, for want of food, myriads of 

 wild fowl leave the frozen north, and repair 

 to milder climates ; and in this immediate 

 district, when there is but a scanty sprink- 

 ling of seeds on the whitethorn bush, our 

 flocks of Fieldfares and of Redwings bear 

 no proportion to those in times of a plentiful 

 supply of their favourite food. But the 

 number of Rooks never visibly diminishes ; 

 and on this account we may safely conclude 

 that, one way or other, they always find a 

 sufficiency of food. Now, if we bring, as a 

 charge against them, their feeding upon the 

 industry of man, as, for example, during the 

 time of a hard frost, or at seed-time, or a 

 harvest, at which periods they will commit 

 depredations, if not narrowly watched ; we 

 ought, in justice, to put down in their favour 

 the rest of the year, when they feed entirely 

 upon insects." Waterton's Essays. 



But while admitting the truth of many of 

 the foregoing remarks, in regard to the 



meritorious services of Rooks, so ably con- 

 tended for by their protectors and defenders, 

 it is impossible to overlook the fact that 

 they consume an enormous quantity of grain, 

 thereby occasioning great loss to the hus- 

 bandman, unless they are watched at certain 

 seasons with unremitting assiduity. It was 

 stated at a meeting of Scotch agriculturists, 

 held no longer ago than April, 1847, that there 

 were no less than 2603 Rooks' nests in one. 

 rookery at Newliston, near Edinburgh ; 

 and that, attracted by so numerous a colony, 

 it had become a kind of rendezvous for 

 the species from all parts of the surrounding 

 country, insomuch that the flocks of Rooks 

 almost darkened the air. A calculation had 

 been made, by which it appeared that, al- 

 lowing their numbers to be 30,000, it would 

 require 30 bolls (or 180 bushels) of wheat to 

 furnish them with one meal a day ! 



RORQUAL. (Balcmoptera.) A genus of 

 Cetaceous Mammalia, closely allied to the 

 common Whales, but distinguished by hav- 

 ing a dorsal fin, with the throat and under 

 parts wrinkled with deep longitudinal folds, 



RORQtJAZ..- 



-NOPTERA. RORQOAL.) 



which are supposed to be susceptible of great 

 dilatation ; the use of which in their eco- 

 nomy is as yet unknown. Two or three spe- 

 cies are known, but they are rather avoided, 

 on account of their ferocity, and the small 

 quantity of oil they produce. 



ROSE-BEETLE, or ROSE-FLY. (Ce- 

 tonia aurata.) A well-known Coleopterous 

 insect ; about an inch long, of a shining 

 green colour above, coppery red underneath, 

 with white marks on the elytra. In its 

 larva state, it frequents rotten timber, and 

 is often met with underground in ants' nests, 

 where it appears to feed upon the bits of 

 wood of which they are composed. In con 

 sequence of this the larva of the Rose-beetle 

 is sometimes called the "king of the ants." 

 Having remained about three years in the 

 larva state, it makes a sort of cocoon of chips 

 of wood, glued together by an excretion of its 

 own ; here, in an inactive state, it passes the 

 winter, and emerges in the following sum- 

 mer as a perfect insect. In the heat of the 

 day the Rose-beetle is seen flying from 

 flower to flower, sucking their honey, but 

 evidently preferring the rose to all others. 



ROSE CHAFER. The name commonly 

 given in this country to a Coleopterous insect 

 (Cetonia aurata) found on the rose. [See 

 CETONIA]. In the United States, according 

 to Dr. Harris, this name is applied to an in- 

 sect belonging to a different family, which 

 is known as the Macrodactylus subspinosus. 

 It is about one third of an inch in length ; 

 the body slender, tapering before and behind, 

 and is entirely covered with very short and 



