THE ROOK. 



our path, flying over our heads, feeding in our 

 fields, and cawing round our dwellings. Who 

 is there who is not familiar with the stately 

 avenue, the tall group of trees, or the sheltered 

 grove where these amusing birds take up their 

 abode ? Who has not watched them clamouring 

 and quarrelling over every stick and straw in 

 their nests, as if it were a gem of value, a dia- 

 mond of the first water? 



" Rooks," says Bewick, " are often accused 

 of feeding on the corn just after it has been sown; 

 but, in our estimation, the advantages derived 

 from the destruction which they make among 

 grubs, larvae, worms, and noxious insects, 

 greatly overpay the injury done, by the small 

 quantity of corn they may destroy in searching 

 after their favourite food. They live together in 

 large societies, and build close to each other in 

 trees, frequently in the midst of large and popu- 

 lous towns. These rookeries are often the scenes 

 of bitter contests ; the new comers are frequently 

 driven away by the old inhabitants, their nests 

 torn in pieces, and the unfortunate couple forced 

 to begin their work anew in some more undis- 

 turbed situation." 



It is singular, that birds living in such large 

 communities, should be so quarrelsome; it seems 

 as if such a propensity would peculiarly disqua- 



H 



