33 
The evening return of the Rook to its 
roosting-place, is strikingly pourtrayed by 
the Poet, in the following lines. 
"Retiring from the Downs, where all day long 
"They pick their scanty fare a black'ning train 
" Of loitering Rooks thick urge their weary flight, 
"And seek the shelter of the grove." 
Of the aversion which these birds en- 
tertain against intruders, some idea may 
be formed from the following anecdote 
related by Bewick. "In the year 1783, a 
pair of Rooks, after an unsuccessful at-, 
tempt to establish themselves in a rookery 
at no great distance from the Exchange, 
(Newcastle) were compelled to abandon 
the attempt, and take refuge on the spire 
of that building; and although constantly 
interrupted by other Rooks, they built 
their nest on the top of the vane, and 
brought forth their young, undisturbed by 
the noise of the populace below them; the 
nest and its inhabitants were consequently 
turned about by every change of the wind. 
They returned and built their nest every 
year on the same place till 1793, after 
which the spire was taken down." 
F 
