72 BIRDS IN LONDON 



to travel in quest of grubs and worms for 

 their young, are London rooks, themselves 

 hatched in parks and squares the town has 

 always been their home and breeding place ; and 

 although it is more than probable that some of 

 these town birds are from time to time enticed 

 away to the country, it is indeed hard to believe 

 that rooks hatched in the rural districts are ever 

 tempted to come to us. During the last dozen 

 years many attempts at founding new colonies 

 have been made by small bands of rooks. These 

 birds were and are survivors of the old broken- 

 up communities. All these incipient rookeries, 

 containing from two or three to a dozen nests 

 (as at Connaught Square), have failed ; but the 

 birds, or some of them, still wander about in an 

 aimless way in small companies, from park to 

 park, and there is no doubt that year by year 

 these homeless rooks will continue to decrease 

 in number, until the ancient tradition is lost, 

 and they will be seen no more. 



It is no slight loss which we have to lament ; 

 it is the loss to the millions inhabiting this city, 

 or congeries of cities and towns, of a bird which 

 is more to us than any other w r ild bird, on 

 account of its large size and interesting social 



