BRITISH BIRDS 



is continuous and incessant, yet to those who have become accustomed to the 

 sound, and from association, it is most pleasing. 



The Rook is more or less omnivorous, worms, grubs, and insects being its 

 staple diet, while it has gained the reputation of being an inveterate egg-stealer 

 when opportunity offers, especially in times of drought, which cause a scarcity 

 of worms and larvae. It also causes a good deal of harm owing to its partiality 

 for seed-corn and potatoes, but no doubt some of the damage done is 

 compensated for by the quantity of insect pests destroyed, and it is an open 

 question whether the Rook is beneficial to the agriculturist or not. 



Although always, comparatively speaking, at our doors and affording many 

 opportunities of studying its ways, the Rook has many unexplained habits and 

 customs : sometimes a large flock will perform curious aerial evolutions, which 

 I have heard described as " weaving," the individuals crossing and recrossing 

 each other's tracks while circling at a great height in the air. 



Young Rooks, up to the time of their second moult, have the base of the 

 bill sheathed with bristly feathers, similar to those on the bills of the adult 

 Carrion and Hooded Crows. 



On reaching maturity, however, these feathers in the Rook are either shed 

 or worn off by abrasion, caused by the bird's habit of digging in the soil for 

 its food, leaving bare a large portion of the skin around the base of the bill, 

 which forms a ready means of distinguishing the adult Rook from its congeners. 

 The male and female are alike in colour. 



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