130 
THE ROOK. 
US can " swim surprisingly." The mere motion o^ 
its legs, to propel its floating body towards land, in 
order to escape from certain death on an element 
where it was never intended by Nature to exist, even 
for the space of one short hour, has been magnified 
by Mr. Audubon into an important act of " swimming 
surprisingly." 
If the admirers of Mr. Audubon should try to 
force us to agree with their great naturalist, that 
partridges can " swim surprisingly," then it behoves 
us to call upon them to declare that every bird in 
the creation can swim. Our little tomtit, till now a 
land bird, must be proclaimed to swim surprisingly, 
and have a place amongst the waterfowl ; because, 
on tumbling accidentally into a washing tub, he has 
muscular power sufficient to keep up a protracted 
struggle" till he reaches the side. 
ON THE HABITS O? THE ROOK. 
Li^ST year I partly promised that, on some dismal i 
winter's evening, I would sit me down, and write the ! 
history of the rook. The period has now arrived. 
Nothing can be more gloomy and tempestuous than 
the present aspect of the heavens. The wind isj 
tearing through the naked branches of the syca-i| 
mores, the rain beats fiercely on the eastern win-^', 
dows, and the dashing of the waves against thejl 
walls of the island, warns us that one of November's,! 
dark and stormy nights is close at hand; such ai 
Bight, probably, as that in which Tarn O'Shante 
