ROOKS AND CROWS, 23 



customed clamour from a pair pf my blackbird friends. On 

 looking for the reason, I saw a rook within a few feet being 

 vigorously attacked. The white-necked crow is especially 

 a Chinese bird. There are crows of sorts in Siberia having 

 light-greyish coloured backs and breasts. Their habitat ex- 

 tends all the way from Vladivostok to Holland during the 

 warm weather, but they are not the same as our "collared" 

 bird here. Their feathers are not so white, nor are the birds 

 themselves so big. The semi-solitary life of Corvus Torquatus 

 marks him off from the rook, and ranks him with the crow. 



In England it is considered good for a rookery to be shot 

 over every year, just when the young birds have attained their 

 first full power of flight. The rook rifle is then brought into 

 play, and a good deal of execution done, always amongst the 

 young birds, the old ones being allowed to escape scot free. 

 In China nobody ever thinks of thinning the ranks like this. 

 The consequence is that rooks increase to such an extent as 

 to become not only a nuisance but a menace to other and 

 more desirable birds. Shanghai, where thirty years ago there 

 were so few that they were actually permitted to nest on the 

 Bund, is now over-run with then, so much so that in some 

 parts of the Settlement the footpath has to be avoided for 

 sufficient, if not good, reasons. The day has gone when the 

 life history of a pair of rooks was recorded in frequent para- 

 graphs in the daily paper. 



Dr. Romanes, in his delightful book on "Animal Intelli- 

 gence" tells several excellent stories of the general intelligence 

 of the crow family. In one of these we see a dog which has 

 secured a piece of meat that is greatly desired by some crows 

 near by. They approach in skirmishing order. There is a 

 growl and a dash and off they go. Only to return, how- 

 ever. The tactician of the party has matured his plan. Two 

 or three approach from the front, whilst one gets still nearer 

 from the rear. This one manages to get in a most vicious 

 dig on the dog's tail, and is instantly chased in consequence. 

 Then comes the psychological moment. The others dash in, 

 seize the meat conjointly and bear it off in triumph to the 

 top of a wall where the dog has the pleasure of seeing it eaten. 

 Any one who has seen the crows of India and Ceylon can 

 well believe such a story. If ever impudence were sent in- 

 carnate into this world of ours it is in the body of the Indian 

 crow. Such arrant thieves are they that it is no uncommon 

 thing for them to enter rooms and make off with whatever 

 takes their fancy; just as readily will they rob the stall of 

 the street vendor or the tray of hotel waiter, if there is any- 

 thing on it that attracts them. 



But perhaps the most extraordinary of all the character- 

 istics of the whole family is the sense of corvine law. In what 



