THE HAVEN. 
723 
sociable, sharp-sighted birds soon spy out a tree laden 
with these obnoxious insects, and, as if by agreement, 
divide themselves into two bands, one of which alights 
on the tree, and the other beneath it: those above shake 
down myriads of cockchafers, which are picked up by the 
party below. Each Rook collects from ten to fifteen of 
these insects at a time in its elastic throat and crop: 
with this load the bird returns to its nest, feeds its 
young, and in less than ten minutes the arduous collector 
is again at its post, recommencing its useful labours as 
before. The result of such industry must be self-evident 
to anyone who can calculate, and who is an observer. 
Rooks always nest in colonies, numbering from twenty to 
three or four hundred pairs. Supposing a colony of these 
birds to consist of eight pairs, each producing only four 
young ones, we have a total of close upon five hundred 
Rooks, each of which destroys daily at least forty cock¬ 
chafers ; so that, independently of the slugs, caterpillars, 
larvae, mice, and other vermin that they capture, they 
annihilate twenty thousand of these insatiable insects 
per diem! One may easily become convinced of the 
services rendered by these birds, if a few dead Rooks be 
hung about a field, for the survivors are so effectually 
scared by the corpses of their dead companions that they 
will cease to trouble a field so protected,—or, shall we 
rather say, abandoned. This done, the crop is left to the 
tender mercies of every description of vermin, so that the 
farmer will soon have ample opportunity of appreciating 
the services rendered by the sooty band. 
One thing is certain, no matter what authors of fables 
may write, and that is, that sportsmen are well aware of 
the caution and acuteness of the Raven. The senses of 
these birds, and their organs, are alike exquisitely fine and 
