THE ROOK. 



385 



shrimps, and shells that are found near low-water mark, and inge- 

 niously cracks the harder-shelled creatures by flying with them to a 

 great height and letting them fall upon a convenient rock. 



The nest of the Crow is invariably placed in some tree remote from 

 the habitations of other birds, and is a structure of considerable dimen- 

 sions and very conspicuous at a distance. It is always fixed on one of 

 the topmost branches, so that to obtain the eggs safely requires a steady 

 head, a practised foot, and a ready hand. 



The materials of which the Crow's nest is made are very various, but 

 always consist of a foundation of sticks, upon which the softer substances 

 are laid. The interior of the nest is made of grasses, fibrous roots, the 

 hair of cows and horses — which the Crow mostly obtains from trees and 

 posts where the cattle are in the habit of rubbing themselves — mosses, 

 and wool. 



The color of the Crow is a uniform blue-black, like that of the Raven, 

 but varieties are known in which the feathers have been pied, or even 

 cream-white. 



The most familiar of all the British Corvidse is the common Rook, a 

 bird which has attached itself to the habitations of mankind, and in 

 course of time has partially domesticated itself in his dominions. 



The habits of the Rook 

 are very interesting and 

 easily watched. Its ex- 

 treme caution is very re- 

 markable, when combined 

 with its attachment to hu- 

 man homes. A colony of 

 a thousand birds may form 

 a rookery in a park, pla- 

 cing themselves under the 

 protection of its owner, 

 and yet if they see a man 

 with a gun, or even with 

 a suspicious-looking stick, 

 they fly oflP their nests The Rook {Corvas /mgilegm). 



with astounding clamor, and will not return until the cause of their 

 alarm is dissipated. During the " rook-shooting" time all the strong- 

 winged birds leave their nests at the first report of the gun, and, 

 rising to an enormous elevation, sail about like so many black midges 

 over their deserted homes, and pour out their complaints in loud and 

 doleful cries, which are plainly audible from even the great height at 

 which they are soaring. 



The nest of the Rook is large and rather clumsily built, consisting 

 chieflv of sticks, upon which are laid sundry softer materials as a rest- 

 * 33 " Z * 



