190 
CROWS AND ROOKS, 
person walking near a plantation heard a shrill cry, and 
running in to find out the cause, discovered a Crow fastening 
itself on a young rabbit, weighing from half to three-quarters 
of a pound, which was making great efforts to release itself, 
hut in vain, for the Crow actually caught it up and bore it 
away across two or three fields. Such is their favourite 
food ; hut, when pressed hy hunger, they will also feed on 
potatoes, barley, or, in short, whatever comes within their 
reach. 
The Rook, on the other hand, is a social bird, passing 
its days with those relations and friends amongst whom it 
was born and bred ; and for its food, preferring a vegetable 
diet, or such insects as it can collect under the sod of the 
meadow, or pick up in its progress over a fallow or fresh- 
ploughed field. There is one intermediate link seen, in 
parts of England, between the Carrion Crow and the Rook, 
namely, the Hooded- gray or Royston Crow. They are 
clever birds, and when frequenting the sea-shore, in search 
of shell-fish, may be frequently seen, after vain attempts to 
