550 BRITISH BIRDS. 



north in Scandinavia as the Arctic circle^ but in Russia and in West 

 Siberia only up to lat. 64°. In the northern portions of its range it is a 

 migratory bird, being found in summer in Scandina^da, North Russia, 

 North Germany, Denmark, and the north of France. In all these countries, 

 where the winters are much more severe than in England, the Rook leaves 

 for the south, and is a common winter visitant to Southern Europe, being 

 found at that season in the south of France, Portugal, Spain, South 

 Germany, Italy, Greece, the islands of the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, 

 and North-east Africa. Eastwards the Rook is found breeding throughout 

 Turkestan and West Siberia as far east as the valley of the Irtish, where 

 I saw large flocks slowly migrating southwards in autumn. The Asiatic 

 birds winter in North Persia, Afghanistan, Cashmere, and North-west 

 India. Still further to the east the Common Rook is replaced by a nearly 

 allied species, Corvus pastinator. This bird differs from its western con- 

 gener in having the plumage glossed with reddish purple instead of bluish 

 purple ; and the bare space round the beak is confined to the upper man- 

 dible, the throat being feathered to the base of the lower mandible, as in 

 the Carrion-Crow. The eastern Rook ranges through Eastern Siberia to 

 China and Japan. 



The Rook is a bird of the well-cultivated districts — broad pasture-lands 

 and fallows, where the timber is large and distributed in plantations, 

 groves, avenues, and woods. Parks are favourite places with the Rook 

 and also pleasure-grounds. From the great changes that have taken 

 place in some districts, many breeding-haunts of the Rook are singularly 

 situated. It is a bird e-\ddently with a strong attachment to its old 

 quarters, and occasionally still remains to rear its young in situations 

 that have changed from country to town. In some places the Rook may 

 be seen rearing its young in trees in gardens which have once formed 

 portions of some park now demolished by the enterprise of some specula- 

 lative builder. In others (as, for example, the rookery in Curzon Street) 

 a colony has allowed itself to be "built in," and the Rooks continue to 

 breed amidst the din of the traffic below. Once established, few things 

 will cause the birds to forsake the rookery. Even the rumble of the rail- 

 way does not give them any perceptible annoyance ; and many are the 

 rookeries in England where the line has been carried through the planta- 

 tion that holds their nests. The favourite haunts appear to be large 

 parks studded with tall trees, from which an easy flight will take them to 

 arable land. 



The habits of the Rook are exceedingly regular. From year to year 

 each season finds the orderly colony engaged in operations peculiar to the 

 season, whether it be the busy time of nest-building and rearing the 

 young, their summer and autumn gatherings (often in enormous numbers), 

 or their nomad life in winter. 



