332 THE ROOK. 



become, as it were, intoxicated : they fight with each other, 

 but never in earnest, dance, leap and roll themselves in the 

 snow, and, assuming the most ludicrous attitudes, emit, seem- 

 ingly with great exertion, scarcely audible sounds." 



This bird often congregates in the manner of the rook, and 

 one at times sees it in large flocks of even hundreds together. 

 It does not, however, breed in colonies like the rook, but each 

 pair for themselves. Most commonly it makes its nest in a 

 tree ; but on the coast, and amongst the adjacent islands, which 

 in many instances are destitute of arboreal vegetation, on the 

 ledge of a rock. In such situations, from the want of the 

 usual materials, the nest is not unfrequently composed chiefly 

 of wool, hair, and the like substances. The female lays from 

 five to six eggs, very similar in appearance to those of others 

 of the crow family. 



The Rook (Rdka, Sw. ; C. frugilegus, Linn.) was only 

 occasionally seen during the spring, but never bred in the 

 vicinity. It is confined nearly altogether to the south of 

 Sweden and the islands of Oland and Gottland, where, in 

 places, these birds are numerous. Migrates. 



It is pretty common in Denmark. Kj?erb6lling speaks of 

 a colony at Varnis Strand in Schleswig, consisting of such 

 multitudes as to become a scourge to the surrounding 

 country. One often saw seventy to eighty nests in the 

 same tree. They destroyed the grain, and broke off the 

 tops of the trees as materials for their nests, to such an 

 extent as to threaten destruction to the whole wood. Attempts 

 were made to drive them away by the firing of pistol-shots, 

 shouts, &c., but in vain. At length, however, the parish 

 clerk councilled the people to try the effects of a cannon, the 

 repeated discharges of which, throughout a whole day, shook 



