378 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



going on continually around us in this respect, and the absolute 

 waste of material and money which it involves. Whilst careful 

 observers are almost unanimous in acknowledging the fact of 

 the changes of habit in such birds as Rooks, the remedy for 

 the evil has not been so far suggested. Years ago, no doubt, 

 the Rook did a larger amount of good than harm, because 

 the land was more full of grubs and vermin, which the Rook in 

 those days fed upon chiefly ; and also, the number of Rooks being 

 smaller, there was enough and to spare for all, of the food they 

 then principally enjoyed. Better farming, draining, and other 

 improvements have altered the case now, and the land does not 

 contain the same quantity of insect-life ; whilst, on the other 

 hand, the birds themselves have increased in numbers. Being 

 obliged, therefore, to investigate the other sources of food-supply, 

 they naturally take what comes first, and grain suffers, as Mr. Scott 

 points out, both at sowing and reaping time. As regards their 

 game-destroying propensities, there is no question about the 

 enormous destruction to eggs from the common Rook. He is an 

 egg-thief of the most wanton character, and may be seen beating 

 a patch of grass or a hedgerow for nests like a terrier dog hunting 

 for a rat. That this is sheer mischief, and not stress of hunger, 

 is abundantly evident, as he will at such times abandon the grub 

 and the worm for the greater delicacy of a nest of eggs, and once 

 he finds them, there is hardly any limit to the number he will 

 destroy. I have known one Rook take seventeen eggs from a 

 game-nest, one by one, as deliberately as possible ; and it is a fair 

 argument that this bird would not have been a solitary instance 

 at the time. That people either do not realize the existing state 

 of things, or are led away by what was a truism years ago, but is 

 so no longer, — that they ' do more good than harm,' — is evident. 

 What is the remedy — total annihilation ? Certainly not. There 

 is a medium course in everything, and what is wanted now, in the 

 interest of farmers, as well as preservers of game, is that the 

 relative proportion of such birds as Rooks to the amount of their 

 natural food now existing on the land, should be restored. There 

 is no necessity to destroy rookeries, which are a favourite feature 

 of some old places ; but there should certainly be a tacit under- 

 standing between all who own rookeries that they should be kept 

 within limits. If, every May, the young Rooks were shot regularly, 

 they would afford many a welcome pie to the cottagers in the 

 locality, and the remaining birds would then not be too numerous, 



