THE ROOK. 



139 



trace their misfortunes to her crowing hen. How- 

 ever, the experiment with the two young rooks, 

 though not perfect, has nevertheless been of some 

 use. It has shown us that the carrion crow makes 

 no distinction betwixt its own eggs and those of the 

 rook ; that it can know nothing of the actual time 

 required to sit upon eggs in order to produce the 

 young ; that the young of the rook will thrive under 

 the care of the carrion crow, just as well as under 

 that of its own parents ; and, finally, that the feathers 

 fall off from the root of the rook's bill by the order 

 of nature, as was surmised by the intelligent Bewick, 

 and not by the process of the bird's thrusting its 

 bill into the earth, in search of food, as is the opinion 

 of some naturalists. 



The rook advances through the heavens with a 

 very regular and a somewhat tardy beat of wing ; 

 but it is capable of proceeding with great velocity 

 when it chooses : witness its pursuit and attack on 

 the sparrowhawk and kestrel. It is apt to injure, 

 in the course of time, the elm trees on which it 

 builds its nest, by nipping off the uppermost twigs. 

 But this, after all, is mere conjecture. The damage 

 may be caused by an accumulation of nests, or by 

 the constant resort of such a number of birds to 

 one tree. Certain, however, it is, that, when rooks 

 have taken possession of an elm tree for the purpose 

 of incubation, the uppermost branches of that tree 

 are often subject to premature decay. 



Though the flocks of rooks appear to have no 

 objection to keep company, from time to time, with 

 the carrion crows, in a winter's evening, before they 



