affecting the Turnips, Corn-crops, S^-c. 
207 
Amongst the birds that which stands first and foremost in the 
ranks is the Rook ; wary as he is on most occasions, he foUows 
the plough fearlessly, to feed upon the Wireworms and other 
insects; and here his services are most invaluable, for if you dig 
up the Wireworms and lay them upon the earth, they will often 
burrow down and disappear in a few seconds ; many, there- 
fore, of the feathered race have little chance of catching them 
in the ploughed field, but the form of the bill, combined with the 
strength and assiduity of the rook, is well adapted for detecting 
them in their hiding-places. To pick them from the growing 
crops is likewise the occupation of the rook when we see him 
gravely surveying a turnip or corn crop, and with astonishing 
sagacity selecting those plants only which have a few yellow leaves 
outside, the sure indication of the presence of the Wireworm and 
other insects. A gentleman in Norfolk, who well understands 
this subject, says, "the rooks convey the first tidings of the pre- 
sence of this formidable enemy by hovering over a field in flocks, 
and actually pulling up the turnips by the roots to search for 
them, and I cannot but believe that their sagacity directs them 
to the infested plants, which are distinguished by their drooping 
leaves and dark unhealthy aspect."* An equally observant 
friend, in Surrey, says, " the rooks are accused of doing injury by 
pulling up the wheat, but I, as well as others here, believe that 
they pull up the attacked plants to get the Wireworms, and do not 
touch the healthy plants." The bailiff to the same party informed 
me, during a period when the Wireworms were abundant, that 
the rooks had been busily occupied amongst the barley in May, 
and where it looked sickly had drawn the earth away from the 
roots to find the Wireworms, and where they had been " working 
the earth " he could not find any of the worms. 
But there is still stronger and incontrovertible evidence in their 
favour, for in the stomachs of rooks which have been shot when 
following the plough in barley-sowing, a few grains of corn only 
were found, but abundance of Wireworms and other insects. 
Mr. J. Denson, sen., says, " I have repeatedly examined the crops 
of rooks: in six young that had been shot the crops were nearly 
filled with Wireworms ; in the crops of others I have found the 
larvae of the cockchafer, and other grubs that I am not entomolo- 
gist enough to know the names of. In one or two instances, in 
frosty weather, I have examined the crop of one or more rooks 
that had been shot : it contained dung, earth, and a small portion 
of grain. I will just notice that the land adjoining Mr. Wiles's 
rookery is yearly sown with pulse or grain, and in no instance 
have I known or heard that the land has in consequence failed of 
* T. S. N., in Preface to an 'Abstract from Marshall's Rural Economy 
of Norfolk,' p. X. 
