THE ROOK. BIRDS. THE JACKDAW. 



347 



is well known in the extreme northern parts of Scot- 

 land, and in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, where 

 it breeds, but is rarely seen in England except during 

 winter. It is abundant about Koyston from October 

 to March, and hence is frequently called the Royston 

 Crow. The adult male is about twenty inches in 

 length, the female rather less. The bill and feet are 

 shining black ; the whole of the head, the front of the 

 neck, the wings and tail, are blue-black ; and the re- 

 mainder of the plumage gray, tinged with brown in the 

 female. The general habits of this bird resemble 

 those of the Carrion Crow, and like that species and 

 the Raven it is charged with destroying young lambs 

 and poultry. When these birds take up their abode 

 on the coast, they feed upon marine animals, including 

 shell-fish, such as cockles and mussels, and in order to 

 obtain the latter, they will fly up with them into the 

 air and drop them upon a rock. The nest of this 

 species is built either in a tree or upon a ledge of rock ; 

 it is formed of sticks and straws, and lined with wool 

 and hair, and serves for several successive seasons. 

 One remarkable circumstance in the history of this 

 bird is that it has been known repeatedly to pair and 

 breed with the Carrion Crow, the Hooded Crow being 

 usually the female. 



THE EOOK (Corrus frugilegus) another well-known 

 British species, is distinguished from the preceding mem- 

 bers of its genus by its gregarious and sociable habits, 

 which indicate, as Pennant says, that it is the Corvus 

 of Virgil, and it is known as the Crow in many parts 

 of this country. Rooks live constantly in flocks at all 



Fig. 114. 



Head of the Rook (Corvus frugilegus). 



seasons of the year, and, as Mr. Yarrell remarks, further 

 evince " the sociability of their dispositions, by appear- 

 ing to prefer situations in the immediate vicinity of the 

 abodes of man. There are not wanting instances," he 

 adds, " where long-established rookeries near a mansion 

 have been deserted by these birds, when it has happened 

 that the house has been pulled down, or even aban- 

 doned as a habitation." In fact, so constantly is the 

 Rook a companion of man, that we can hardly see 

 these birds busy about their nests, or returning to their 

 trees to roost in the evening, or hear their not over- 

 melodious voices, without associating these sights and 

 pounds with a human dwelling-place. They are not 



disturbed even by the bustle of great cities, and one or 

 two pairs have frequently built their nests in a single 

 elm tree at the corner of Wood Street and Cheapside, 

 notwithstanding the constant roar of the traffic in the 

 latter great thoroughfare. They have been known to 

 exhibit great sagacity in selecting the trees on which 

 to build their nests, avoiding those which were so 

 decayed as to be in danger of coming down; and an 

 instance is recorded of their forsaking those trees from 

 which a portion of bark had been removed as an indi- 

 cation that they were to be felled. The nests, of 

 which seven or eight are often seen on the same tree, 

 are composed of twigs, and lined with grass and roots, 

 and during the process of building, constant squabbles 

 arise among the architects, caused by their endeavouring 

 to plunder each other's materials at every opportunity. 

 The same nest serves for several years. 



The food of the Rooks consists principally of worms, 

 snails, slugs, and the grubs of insects, in search of 

 which they frequent meadows, pastures, and ploughed 

 fields. They have frequently been regarded as enemies 

 by the farmer, but in this he is certainly in error ; they 

 may, indeed, occasionally consume some small portion 

 of his produce, but the quantity of noxious insects 

 destroyed by them is so enormous, that the benefits 

 conferred by them upon the husbandman far exceed 

 any damage they may do him. One of the commonest 

 charges against the Rooks is, that they injure the 

 pastures, by plucking up the grass and other meadow 

 plants, apparently for the sake of mischief; but the fact 

 is, that on investigation the plants pulled up are found 

 to have been previously destroyed by the grubs of 

 insects devouring their roots, and it is in order to obtain 

 these that the Rooks render themselves liable to a 

 charge of doing mischief which was in reality ready 

 done to their beaks. In searching after the earth- 

 loving insects which constitute their principal food, the 

 Rooks dig into the ground with their beaks, and in 

 consequence of this the feathers at the base of the bill 

 and on the throat, which are present in young birds, 

 become gradually rubbed off and destroyed, leaving a 

 rough naked skin on these parts. The bill is sometimes 

 liable to curious malformations, specimens having been 

 shot with the mandibles crossed, or with one mandible 

 produced to a great length beyond the other, rendering 

 it difficult to understand how the birds could continne 

 to pick up their living. In captivity the Rook is said 

 to exhibit the same amusing qualities as his congeners, 

 except that his powers of imitation seem to be more 

 limited. 



THE JACKDAW (Corvus monedula), a smaller species 

 than any of the preceding, resembles the Rook in living 

 together sociably in considerable flocks throughout the 

 year. It is a common inhabitant of Britain, and also 

 of the continent of Europe, extending southward to the 

 northern shores of Africa, and eastward at least as far 

 as Lake Baikal in Central Asia. The Jackdaw is a 

 bold and familiar bird, generally inhabiting cultivated 

 and well-peopled districts, and frequenting especially 

 the towers and belfries of churches and similar elevated 

 buildings, amongst the nooks and crannies of which it 

 builds its nest and brings up its young. In more rural 

 districts and on the coast the Jackdaw builds in the 



