45 



THE ROOK. 



(Corvus frugilegus.) 



The Rook lives in flocks and breeds in great colonies. 

 Its nest is smaller and looser than that of the Hooded 

 Crow. Five or six nests one above another, are often 

 found in one tree sometimes as many as eighteen. It 

 pairs somewhat late, in Hungary, but already in April 

 may be found three to five eggs of a pale green colour 

 spotted with grey and blue. These are smaller than 

 those of the Hooded Crow. 



The Rook spends the greater part of its life in its 

 native home, often in huge crowds, numbering many 

 thousands, which divide up during the day to seek food 

 in different parts of the neighbourhood. During the 

 breeding time they are divided according to the breeding 

 places. This bird is the most zealous follower of the 

 ploughman, and by its great number destroys an enor- 

 mous quantity of noxious creatures the cockchafer 

 being its most coveted delicacy. It covers, with its 

 flocks, the freshly ploughed field, and if they are sown, 

 picks up the grains that are lying about. It bores into 

 the soft earth of the meadows and cornfields, for des- 

 tructive grubs, and pulls up the withered plants in order 

 to secure the caterpillar or wireworm which has 

 destroyed the roots. This has caused the Rook to be 

 suspected of plundering the fields, but the question has 

 not yet been settled, and the general inclination is in the 

 bird's favour. The fact is that even in Hungary, where 

 the Rook exists in millions, the people generally are 

 indifferent about it. Early sowing, while there is suffi- 



