BRITISH BIRDS. 
63 
BIRDS OF THE PIE KIND 
Constitute the next order in the arrangement 
of the feathered part of the creation ; they confifl 
of a numerous and irregular tribe, widely differing 
from each other in their habits, appetites, and man- 
ners, as well as in their form, fize, and appearance. 
In general they are noify, reftlefs, and loquacious, 
and of all other kinds contribute the leafl towards 
fupplying the neceffities or the pleafures of man. 
At the head of thefe we fhall place the Crow and 
its affinities, well known, by its footy plumage and 
croaking note, from every other tribe of the fea- 
thered race. Birds of this kind are found in every 
part of the known world, from Greenland to the 
Cape of Good Hope ; and though generally dif- 
liked for their difgufting and indifcriminating vo- 
racity, yet in many refpedts they may be faid to 
be of fmgular benefit to mankind, not only by de- 
vouring putrid flefh, but principally by deflroy- 
ing great quantities of noxious infedls, worms, and 
reptiles. Rooks, in particular, are fond of the e- 
rucae of the hedge-chafer, or chefnut brown beetle, 
for which they fearch with indefatigable pains.* 
* Thefe infects appear in hot weather, in formidable num- 
bers, difrobing the fields and trees of their verdure, blofioms, and 
fruit, fpreading defolation and deftru&ion wherever they go.—* 
They appeared in great numbers in Ireland during a hot fum- 
mer, and committed great ravages. In the year 1747 whole 
