ROOKS AND THEIR RELATIVES 131 



Much has been written about two African birds 

 with the unmanageable names of Textor Erythro- 

 rhynchus and Buphaga Africana, which attend the 

 game of Africa and give the alarm on the approach 

 of any suspicious object. There is nothing remark- 

 able about that, for close to my own door can be seen 

 rooks, jackdaws, and starlings doing the same thing, 

 and they sound their alarm note in the same manner. 

 If any one when passing through pasture lands looks 

 about him, he will frequently see horned cattle, sheep, 

 and horses feeding on the same land, and he will see 

 four birds busy feeding in their midst, close to their 

 noses and hoofs, namely, rooks, jackdaws, starlings, 

 and wagtails On the Surrey and the Southdown 

 hills scores of sheep are saved in one year through 

 the good offices of some members of these four 

 families. Unlike the rook, Jackup prefers to build in 

 the boles of trees. I have watched a pair this season 

 from one of my windows. When breeding-time 

 comes round, they are very quick and sly in their 

 movements. Where chalk is quarried from the hill- 

 side for the purpose of lime-making, Jack will build 

 in a crack or cranny, and chatter all day long, the 

 men being busy at wo.k below him. In some localities 

 he will build in a rabbit-hole like a puffin. 



As a pet he is well-known in the country. A 



K 2 



