29 
This repository is used by the male for 
furnishing a supply to the female during 
the time of incubation, and both parents 
use the same means in support of their 
offspring; at which season the pouch may 
be easily observed distended with food as 
they arrive from the fields to their nest. 
The female lays four or five eggs, similar 
to those of the Crow, of a greenish colour, 
spotted and blotched with dusky. 
The Rook is a gregarious species, being 
sometimes seen in such numbers as ap- 
parently to darken the air in their flight. 
They build their nests in general on high 
trees, close to each other, selecting a large 
clump of the tallest for this purpose. When 
a colony is once settled it is permanent, 
and the birds never quit the establishment 
they have formed till some injury or insult 
banishes them from the place. During the 
time of building frequent engagements 
take place with foreigners, as they are 
very jealous of intrusions from other so- 
cieties. At the commencement of spring, 
the rookery, which during the continuance 
of winter, seemed to have been deserted, 
