Class II. ROOK. s£g 



be plundered by its brethren : they lay the same 

 number of eggs as the crow, and of the same 

 color, but smaller. After the breeding season 

 rooks forsake their nest-trees, and for some time 

 go and roost elsewhere, but return to them in 

 August: in October they repair their nests,* 

 quit their nest-trees again in the depth of winter 

 and roost in other woods, till February, when 

 they select their mates. 



In France and Silesia, these birds are migra- 

 tory ; in the former they appear at the approach 

 of winter ; in the latter they announce by their 

 arrival, the return of summer.-)' According to 

 Ekmark, who made his remarks in Ostrogoth- 

 land, they arrive in that province of Sweden 

 about the beginning of April, and leave it in 

 autumn. J 



* Calendar of Flora. 



f De Buffon. in. 59. 



\ Amcsn Acad. iv. 583. Vergente mense regelationis, in the 

 language of philosophy the thawing month, beginningin Siceden 

 the 19th of March and ending the 12th of April 



