184 BIRDS' NESTS. 



that the rook possesses a strong attachment 

 for the place in which it was reared, and, 

 failing trees, its natural abode, puts up with 

 great inconvenience rather than desert its early 

 haunts. A rookery is so familiar a sight to 

 every one who has eyes, and can use them, 

 that any description would be quite superfluous. 

 The nest is built of sticks, often of large size, 

 and lined with grass and fibrous roots. The 

 eggs, four or five in number, are of a pale 

 greenish colour, blotched with dark brown. 



Rooks appear to be somewhat capricious in 

 selecting the site of a new colony, but it is 

 said that they may be induced to establish 

 themselves in a grove or wood by substituting 

 their eggs for those of a crow or magpie which 

 may happen to have built its nest in the 

 neighbourhood. The young birds having no 

 attachment for any other place, will return the 

 following season, and build their nests where 

 they were reared. 





