. The sportsman's British bird book . y blue reflections on the plumage of the upper-parts, and the more slenderly formed beak. The same features serve todistinguish young rooks from young crows ; a further point of differencebeing that in the former the interior of the mouth is slate-coloured. The range of the rook comprises the greater part of northern andcentral Europe, extending in Scandinavia as high as the Arctic Circle,but gradually declining as we proceed eastwards, where in Asia itextends as far as Turkestan and the valley of the Irtish, and in winterincludes the north-western provinc
. The sportsman's British bird book . y blue reflections on the plumage of the upper-parts, and the more slenderly formed beak. The same features serve todistinguish young rooks from young crows ; a further point of differencebeing that in the former the interior of the mouth is slate-coloured. The range of the rook comprises the greater part of northern andcentral Europe, extending in Scandinavia as high as the Arctic Circle,but gradually declining as we proceed eastwards, where in Asia itextends as far as Turkestan and the valley of the Irtish, and in winterincludes the north-western provinces of India, Persia, and Asia Minor. At the same season rooks resort to the Mediterranean countries farther west. - ->-_ Despite the enormous numbers in which rooksare to be found through-out almost the whole ofthe British Isles, largearrivals annually maketheir appearance for thewinter from the east. More-over, the species seems tobe gradually extending itsrange, having of late yearstaken to nesting in theOuter Hebrides, although. MEAD OK YOING KOOK. it docs not yet appear tohave done so in habits are at all times essentially characteristic of thespecies, which is so thoroughly well known that brief notes in regard toits habits will suffice. Rookery has now become a term for all largebreeding colonies of animals—human or otherwise ; and it is statedthat these birds will never build in trees which are not thoroughlysound and safe. It has been noticed that when a pair of rooksattempts to build apart from the rest in a tree previously unoccupied,the other members of the colony frequently set to work to destroy thenew settlement. In 1905 an event of this nature took place in thechurchyard of Christ Church, .Skipton. In this instance a pair of rookshad built in a tree overhanging a street, and the female was incubatingher eggs. While thus engaged she was attacked b> the other rooks,which pecked her to death, throwing the body, together with the brokenegg
Size: 1965px × 1271px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorlydekkerrichard184919, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900
