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ROOK. 
however, being forthcoming, it at length left the adult and proceeded to hunt for itself. Again, on the 22nd, I 
watched another keeping company with an adult in much the same manner ; and on the latter taking wing, it 
was followed at once by the younger bird. As in the former case, the adult took not the slightest notice of the 
immature bird when it approached. In every case I was sufficiently close to see that the plumage was as bright 
and glossy as that of the adults ; this, of course, would not have been the case had they been young birds of 
the year, hatched at an earlier date than usual. That Rooks with black bristles over the bills were to be met 
with in the broad-district of Norfolk during May 1871 is well impressed on my memory. While watching for 
two Black Crows breeding in a small plantation, I shot a couple of black-beaked Rooks as they crossed over 
my hiding-place beneath the nest, and under the impression that I had obtained the rightful owners, sent off 
the pair at once for preservation. It was not till receiving word from the taxidermist to whom my specimens 
had been forwarded that I became aware of the ridiculous error. 
Though Rooks, at times, if not invariably, retain the bristles over the beak till the second year, it is quite 
possil.de to distinguish them from Crows by a few moments’ examination. The interior of the mouth of the 
Black Crow is at all times a pale flesh ; the mouth of the Rook, though a deep flesh in the juvenile 
stage, has assumed the slate-colour of the adult before the bird is a twelvemonth old. If examined in the 
sunlight, the plumage of the Rook is considerably more glossy, a brilliant blue pervading the feathers on 
the head, neck, and back. Though the Crow will he found to exhibit far less lustre, a dark purple bloom 
at times is visible. There is in addition a faint and indescribable odour that hangs about the latter bird, which, 
though by no means so strong as the scent of the Fulmer or Gannet, leaves no doubt in the mind of one who 
has once “ felt ” it as to the identity of the specimen. The claws and talons of the Crow arc more powerful 
than those of the Rook ; this difference, however, is scarcely discernible without comparison. 
From information lately gathered from the skipper of a trading- vessel (an old puntsman well acquainted 
with birds), I consider it is possible that young Rooks may leave the British Islands and take up their 
residence for a time on the continent in greater numbers than we generally suppose. I also learned from a 
couple of gunners who had passed some considerable time shooting on the opposite coast, that during autumn 
and early winter flocks of Rooks were met with, composed, as far as they were able to judge, almost, if not 
entirely, of young birds. For these statements, of course, I am not able to vouch ; I simply record the facts as 
they were told me while conversing on sporting matters. 
I am ignorant whether scientific naturalists can inform us with certainty as to the age at which the 
Rook commences to breed ; no remarks on this subject can be found in any works I have examined. As far 
as I am to judge from personal observations, it appears probable that this species does not arrive at maturity 
before the third year—*, c. does not pair and nest till it has arrived at the age of two years. 
