556 



6 



dropping them on a hard stony place. I have seen it treat an obstinate walnut in the same way. 

 Rooks seem occasionally to cast up pellets of the indigestible portion of what they have eaten, 

 after the manner of Hawks ; so I suppose their digestion is not quite equal to every thing ; 

 one of these pellets which I saw a Rook cast up, and which I examined, consisted of stones, 

 hard parts of beetles, and husks of corn. So necessary are stones to help digestion, that old 

 Rooks give them to their young before they leave the nest, and I have frequently found them in 

 the stomachs of young Rooks shot in the rook-shooting time, and before they had left their 

 native tree." On the whole, I think that what injury is done by this species is far outweighed 

 by its extreme utility in destroying such vast numbers of insect pests, which, were they not kept 

 in check, would soon devastate the finest crops. 



The Rook breeds somewhat early, at times even commencing to repair its nest as early as 

 February or March ; and Macgillivray Avrites that he observed a pair refitting an old nest as early 

 as the 16th February. It invariably, so far as I know, nests in company with others of its 

 species, and prefers the neighbourhood of some human habitation ; thus in some places where the 

 Rooks have been protected, they have formed vast rookeries, their nests being frequently built 

 close together, several being on the same tree. In England there are rookeries to be found 

 almost everywhere ; but on the Continent they are not so numerous. I have, however, seen 

 several large colonies in various parts of the Continent, and may in particular name one, a very 

 large one, in the Nassau territory, not far from Altenkirchen, which I visited this spring. The 

 nest of the Rook is constructed of sticks, lined with fibrous roots, wool, straws, and such like 

 substances, according to circumstances, and is usually a somewhat bulky structure. 



The eggs, from four to five in number, are subject to considerable variation, some being 

 pale greenish, spotted or marked with peculiar hieroglyphic-like dashes of a dark brown colour, 

 or else dotted all over with dull dark brown and purplish brown, whereas others have the ground- 

 colour dull pale olive-green, and are closely blotched and marked with dull brown. A series in 

 my collection measure from 1-^J by 1^ inch to If § by 1^ inch respectively. 



When the young are nearly ready to leave the rookery they are very good for the table ; and 

 shooting young Rooks is a sport that is very generally followed by those in whose grounds are 

 large rookeries; and at that season of the year large numbers of young Rooks are exposed for 

 sale in our game-dealers' and poulterers' shops. 



Varieties of the Rook are not very uncommon. I have seen one white and others either 

 cream-coloured or partly white. Mr. James Lumsden, jun., also informs me that a curious 

 specimen was shot at Blyth, in Perthshire, on the 7th July, 1873. It is, he says, of a light 

 brown colour, darker over the wings than on the back, and the bill and feet are similarly 

 coloured to the plumage on the body. It is evidently a young bird, as the base of the bill is 

 feathered. 



It is not often that the Rook is kept in confinement ; but when tamed it can, Macgillivray 

 says, Ci be taught to mimic different kinds of animals. There was an old woman in Bathgate 

 who kept one for some years, which I have again and again heard imitating so remarkably well 

 the barking of several dogs in the village that had it been placed out of view it would have been 

 impossible to discover the deception." 



The note of the Rook is a harsh caw, which is modulated according to circumstances ; and 



