THE EOOK. 177 



are of such an age as that they can complain, the others do 

 relieve their wants. Indeed, it is very possible that all 

 species of birds contribute at times to the support of orphan 

 broods of their own species ; otherwise, from the casualties to 

 which the parent birds are subject, we should meet with 

 many more instances of young that had died in the nest. As 

 for the widowed ones, there is no doubt that they pair again 

 the next year, so that there is never more than one odd bird 

 in a rookery ; and it has been asserted that one of the ways 

 in which new rookeries are formed, is the pairing of the odd 

 birds from existing ones. During the pairing season, one 

 may often observe a rook flying about in a hurried manner, 

 and cawing in a sharper and more anxious key, without 

 carrying sticks, or taking any share in the business of nidi- 

 fication ; but whether they are odd ones it is not easy to say. 

 Couriers sometimes pass and repass between the different 

 rookeries, upon terms that are evidently amicable, but the 

 messages which they carry are known only to the rooks 

 themselves. There is no doubt, however, that all birds which 

 live in societies have some signals by which they recognise 

 each other ; for when the rooks of different rookeries feed 

 together during the day, but go home at night, each party 

 takes its proper course, though occasionally one or two will 

 follow the wrong leader for a time before they discover their 

 mistake. Rooks have a history which is neither brief nor 

 void of interest ; and they are so numerous, and found in so 

 many places, that any one may study it. 



It need hardly be added, that the rook is of a fine glossy 

 black, of almost the only tint of that colour which is lively ; 

 that the sides of the head and neck are glossed with very 

 rich blue, of which there are traces, but deeper and less per- 

 ceptible, on the coverts. The beak is straight in the gape, 

 with nearly equally similar outlines to both mandibles. The 

 skin at the base, which is light grey, is covered with black 



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