246 ROOKS. 



and the man and his servant declared, that they had 

 actually gathered eighty bushels of cockchaffers. 



In France again, many provinces were so ravaged 

 by grubs, that a premium was offered by govern- 

 ment for the best mode of ensuring their destruction ; 

 and yet. singularly enough, so little were the people 

 acquainted with the real and best mode of stopping 

 the mischief, that when their dreadful Revolution 

 broke out, accompanied with murder and bloodshed 

 which can never be forgotten, the country people, 

 amongst other causes of dissatisfaction with their 

 superiors, alleged their being fond of having rookeries 

 near their houses; and in one instance, a mob of 

 these misguided and ignorant people, proceeded to 

 the residence of the principal gentleman in their 

 neighbourhood, from whence they dragged him, and 

 hung his body upon a gibbet, after which they at- 

 tacked the rookery, and continued to shoot the 

 Rooks samidst loud acclamations. 



It is scarcely necessary to name the wire-worm as 

 one of the greatest scourges to which the farmers are 

 exposed; and yet it is to the Rook chiefly, if not 

 entirely, that they can look for a remedy. Cased in 

 its hard shelly coat, it eats its way into the heart of 

 the roots of corn, and is beyond the reach of weather, 

 or the attacks of other insects, or small birds, whose 

 short and softer bills cannot penetrate the recesses 

 of its secure retreat buried some inches below the 

 soil. The Rook alone can do so; if watched, when 

 seen feeding in a field of sprouting wheat, the heed- 

 less observer will abuse him, when he sees him 

 jerking up root after root of the rising crop; but the 

 careful observer will, if he examines minutely, de- 



