RAVENS. 



265 



Their voice is deep and hoarse, and though they are capable of imitating sounds, they never attain the 

 power of pronouncing words. In spite of the comparative amiability of disposition exhibited by the 

 Rooks, they render themselves extremely troublesome in a variety of ways, almost deafening their 

 hearers by their incessant cawing, and frequently doing considerable mischief by stealing fruit from 

 the gardens or seed from the fields, and even giving proof of still more voracious propensities by 

 strangling young hares or partridges. For the most part, however, the food of this species consists of 

 cockchafers and their destructive larvas or slugs ; whilst in pursuit of these, their acute sense of smell 



the jackdaw (Monedula turrium). 



would seem to guide them to the exact spot under which they lie concealed, and so enormous are the 

 numbers they dig up, that, as we have said, the hungry Rooks actually rub the feathers from their 

 faces by constantly burrowing in the ground with their beaks. In the breeding season, numerous pairs 

 build close together, quarrelling the whole time, and robbing each other incessantly of the materials 

 collected. The female alone broods upon the eggs, which are usually four or five in number, of a 

 pale green, spotted with dark brown. During the time of incubation comparative peace reigns in the 

 colony ; but no sooner are the nestlings hatched than the uproar is redoubled tenfold, as the hungry 

 little ones clamour for food in most discordant tones from daybreak till the sun goes down. 

 34 



