i9io.] 



The Food of Rooks. 



i33 



The straw is combed in a very simple way, frequently 

 merely with the hand, or with a very short-handled wooden 

 rake, which is passed several times through the butt end of 

 the sheaf ; or the sheaf may be taken by both hands and 

 pulled several times through a row of wooden prongs which, 

 pointing upwards, are firmly fixed to a trestle about four feet 

 in height. The same result is obtained by each method, i.e., 

 the loose sheaths or leaves which surround the stem are 

 removed, as well as any weeds, &c, which may have been 

 cut and bound with the sheaf. 



A valuable inquiry into the feeding habits of the rook has 

 been carried out on behalf of the Council of the Land Agents' 

 Society by Mr. Walter E. Collinge, 

 The Food M.Sc. The method adopted was to 



of Rooks. obtain specimens as far as possible 



from every county in England and 

 from Wales throughout the year 1909. Correspondents were 

 asked to forward one bird every fortnight, and the number 

 actually received was 631 from in all 41 counties. The speci- 

 mens were examined as received to ascertain the contents of 

 their stomachs. 



It has generally been supposed that the food of the rook 

 consists very largely of beetles, insect larvae, and earth- 

 worms, but the bulk of the food taken from the gizzards of 

 the 631 rooks recorded in this report consisted of grain. 

 Wheat and other grain was in the greatest abundance, and 

 occurred in 320 cases. Other seeds were found only in 39 

 cases, while remains of fruit (mainly acorns, but in a few 

 instances red currants and gooseberries) occurred in 84 cases. 

 In 36 cases only were roots present, and in 80 per cent, these 

 were grass roots, the remainder being potatoes. 



Mr. Collinge remarks that, throughout the inquiry, he was 

 astonished at the little animal food found in the gizzards. 

 It averaged in the twelve months only 15 per cent, of the 

 total food contents of the gizzards. In 116 cases, beetles or 

 their larvae were present, dipterous larvae in six cases, larvae 

 of lepidoptera in 15 cases, aphidae, &c, in one case, milli- 

 pedes in six cases, and other insects (bees or wasps) in seven 

 cases. 



In addition to the 631 specimens received during 1909, 



