148 



TO THE ROOK. 

 Corvus Frugilegus. (Linn.) 



Thou social, thou noisy, intelligent Bird ! 



How oft I, delighted, thy cawing have heard ! 



When infancy prompted my lisp, thy loud voice 



I heard soon as morning arose to rejoice ; 



And my youth, long beside thy high dwelling, was 



taught 

 That happiness was not in towns to be sought ; 

 And since hath experience proclaim'd the same 



truth, 

 Which, alas ! I had heard, but obey'd not in youth. 

 How oft have I seen thee, with labouring breast, 

 Long branches and twigs bear to fashion thy nest, 

 While the wind drove thee far from thy dwelling 



away, 

 Till, wheeling around, thou regained'st the spray ; — 

 Then, plucking the hairs from the back of the ox ; 

 Or, seeking of wool many soft and warm locks. 

 How oft have I seen, heard thee provender bring, — 

 Feed thy mate, or thy young, and away on the 



wing.* 



* The noise made by the female rook, during her incubation, 

 at the approach of the male with food, and when receiving it 

 from him, and that made also by the young rooks, at the 

 approach of the parent bird, is so singular, and so well known 

 by those acquainted with it, that hearing it alone is sufficient to 

 indicate what process is about to take place. 



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