432 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



His beneficial work can in no way be compensated, because the pre- 

 ponderating part of the diet of the rook consists of noxious insect larvn?, 

 living under the surface of the soil, against which human power is of 

 hardly any avail. 



Concerning the optimal number of rooks, a positive answer cannot 

 yet be given, but in some districts of Hungary it is evident it becomes 

 noxious through excessive increase. 



Song Thrush : Turdus musicus. 



This pleasant singer is a common resident throughout the British 

 Isles. Yarrell says that a considerable number of our native birds 

 migrate in the autumn, their place being taken by visitors from the 

 Continent. I am told in the north of England there are fewer thrushes 

 in winter than in summer, but that they are more numerous in winter 

 in the south. 



On the lawn it is characteristic of this bird to run a few steps and 

 halt. It feeds largely on worms and grubs in the grass, and may be often 

 seen with a snail in its mouth, beating the shell against a stone to break 

 it, and so get at the contents. It chooses a special stone to which it brings 

 its victims. 



From a gardener's paint of view it is the third worst fruit thief, 

 though useful in winter. It destroys large quantities of strawberries, 

 cherries, red currants, and raspberries, but does not, like the blackbird, 

 peck apples and plums on the trees ; the damage is worst in dry weather, 

 when its natural food, consisting of worms, snails, grubs, and slugs, is hard 

 to get. One grower mentions it eating raspberry weevils. 



Yarrell says on the Continent this bird feeds largely on grapes in 

 the autumn, and at this time of the year it is found excellent for the 

 table. 



Apparently a large proportion of the thrushes migrate before winter. 



Its mud-lined nest is very familiar, and the male bird shares in 

 incubating the eggs, which are from four to six in number, and laid early 

 in the season. Two or three broods are reared in a season. The eggs 

 take about thirteen days to hatch. 



Miss Ormerod mentions it eating caterpillars of the large white 

 cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicae). 



Skylark : Alauda arvensis. 



The lark is characterised by a very long hind tee which leaves its 

 mark on the earth or mud where it treads. When ascending into the 

 air it rises on a quivering wing. Yarrell says of the lark that its song 

 varies whether ascending, stationary, or descending ; it ceases song as it 

 approaches the ground, and alights with a headlong dart. 



It sings at least eight months of the year ; in summer the cock 

 begins to sing about two hours before sunrise and continues at intervals 

 till after sunset. Yarrell says its food consists of various seeds, including 

 corn, sometimes a few berries, with many insects and worms. It pairs 

 early in the year, in the southern counties at least ; several broods are 

 produced, three to five eggs, which take fifteen days to hatch, being laid 



