flock in trom a radius of several miles, but from the 

 latter end of June till the time of corn-liarvest it is a 

 very exceptional event to see more than from fifty to 

 sixty Rooks together. One of the most remarkable of 

 the many authentic Rook-stories that has come to my 

 knowledge was communicated to me by a friend resident 

 in Rutland, and relates to that county ; it runs thus : — 

 Some few years ago the wife of a gamekeeper, whose 

 cottage was close to a large wood containing a well- 

 stocked Rookery, observed, one evening towards the end 

 of May, a great commotion amongst the Rooks, of whose 

 community all that were capable of flight appeared to 

 be circling in the air above the tree-tops with deafening 

 cries, but without any apparent cause; the woman, 

 suspecting that some trespasser was wandering in the 

 wood, or that the disturbance was caused by some large 

 bird of prey, summoned her husband, who was engaged 

 at his pheasant-coops at a short distance ; he at once 

 explored the covert, but could discover no cause for the 

 disturbance of the Rooks, which continued till dark ; 

 the next morning not a Rook was visible, the Rookery 

 was deserted, and many young left to perish, for their 

 parents did not return during the year in which this 

 event occurred. Several stories of a similar nature have 

 come to my knowledge, but none, in my opinion, so 

 extraordinary or so authentic as the above. I am not 

 inclined to enter into the controversy as to the merits of 

 the Rook as a friend to the farmers ; there is no doubt 

 that these birds destroy enormous numbers of noxious 

 insects, both upon arable and pasture-lands ; it is equally 

 indisputable that they are extremely fond of wheat in 



