7* THE ROOK 



In very dry summer weather, Rooks are put to great shifts In 

 obtaining food. Grubs and worms descend to a great depth to get 

 beyond the influence of the drought, and the soil is too parched 

 ami hard for digging ; they then retire to the sea-shore, to marshes, 

 fresh-water and salt, to cabbage and potato gardens, and in the last- 

 named localities they are again disposed to become marauders. 

 To fruit gardens they are rarely permitted to resort, or they would 

 commit great ravages. As the season advances, ripe walnuts are a 

 very powerful attraction, and when they have discovered a tree well 

 supplied with fruit, a race ensues between them and the proprietor 

 as to which shall appropriate the greater share, so slily do they 

 watch for opportunities, and so quick are they in gathering them 

 and carrying them off in their beaks. In long winter frosts, or 

 when the ground is covered with snow, they are again reduced to 

 straits. Some resort to the sea-shore and feed on garbage of all 

 kinds, some to turnip-fields where they dig holes in the bulbs. 

 They have also been observed to chase and kill small birds, which, 

 as near starvation as themselves, have been unable to fly beyond 

 their reach, and I have even seen a Rook catch a small fish. 



I must not conclude this imperfect sketch without noticing a 



peculiar habit of Rooks, which is said to portend rain. A flock 



will suddenly rise into the air almost perpendicularly, with great 



cawing and curious antics, until they have reached a great elevation, 



and then, having attained their object, whatever that may be, 



drop with their wings almost folded till within a short distance of 



the ground, when they recover their propriety, and alight either 



on trees or on the ground with their customary grave demeanour. 



Occasionally in autumn, as White of Selborne remarks, 



Sooth 'd by the genial warmth, the cawing Rook 

 Anticipates the spring, selects her mate, 

 Haunts her tall nests, and with sedulous care 

 Repairs her wicker eyrie, tempest torn. 



Similar instances of this unseasonable pairing are recorded by 

 modern ornithologists. 



Efforts are sometimes made, and not always unsuccessfully, to 

 induce Rooks to establish a colony in a new locality. One plan 

 is to place some eggs taken from a Rook's nest in that of some large 

 bird which has happened to build in the desired spot, that of a 

 Crow for instance, a Magpie, Jackdaw, Jay, or perhaps a Mistle 

 Thrush. If the young are reared, it is probable that they will return 

 to breed in the same place in the following year. Another plan 

 which has been tried with success is to place several bundles of 

 sticks, arranged in the form of nests, among the highest branches 

 of the trees which it is desired to colonize. Stray Rooks in quest 

 of a settlement, mistaking these for ruins of old nests, accept the 

 invitation and establish themselves if the locality suits them in 

 other respects. 



