306 BIRDS IN LONDON 



able loss of vigour. It would be a very easy 

 matter to infuse fresh blood into it by 

 substituting eggs from some country rookery 

 for those in the nests. This experiment would 

 cost nothing ; and it would also be worth while 

 to provide the birds with suitable provender, 

 such as meal-worms, at the season when the 

 young are growing and require more food than 

 the parents are probably able to give them. 



No doubt some readers of this book will 

 say at once that the reintroduction of the 

 rook into London is impossible, since even in 

 the rural districts, where all the conditions are 

 favourable, it is found extremely difficult to induce 

 the birds to settle where they are wanted. A year 

 or two ago my friend Mr. Cunninghame Graham, 

 writing from his place in the north, told me that 

 he had long desired to have rooks in his trees, 

 and that he had written to an eminent ornitho- 

 logist, with whom he was not personally ac- 

 quainted, asking for advice in the matter. The 

 naturalist replied at some length, pointing out 

 the fallacies of Socialism as a political creed, 

 but saying nothing about the rooks. Probably 

 he had nothing practical to write on the subject, 

 but he might at least have informed his corre- 



