CORVIDAE—ROOKS.
135
More, writing in 1865, says (33. 133) :
" Mr. Laver of Colchester has informed Dr. C. R. Bree that the 'Dun Crow'
occurs in great numbers near the Blackwater River in Essex, and [that] some
remain and breed there every year. Mr. Laver has frequently seen and taken the
nest on Osey Island, in the parish of Steeple, on Ramsey Island and at Paglesham.
His cousin, Mr. Robert Laver, has shot the old bird from the nest which is
generally that of the Carrion Crow." * * * " Dr. Bree has since written to say
that the trees in which the Hooded Crow used to breed have been cut down in one
of the localities whence he kindly endeavoured to obtain specimens."
Prof. Newton, commenting on their reported breeding in this locality, says (37.
ii. 279): "it would seem that this is not so now," which is certainly the case. In
reply to my enquiry, Dr. Laver writes : " There can be no mistake about their
breeding, as stated in the This. They bred on a haulm-wall in Foulness, but I
have not heard of a nest for years, as I now never visit that district." The Rev.
J. C. Atkinson never knew of a nest in Essex, and in reply to an enquiry, Mr. J.
F. T. Wiseman of Paglesham informs me that he never knew of its breeding in
that district.
Rook : Corvus frugilegus.
A very abundant resident. Instances of its nesting in the autumn
and winter are by no means rare, and varieties of various kinds,
chiefly white or pied, are rather com-
mon. A very large proportion of young
Rooks have a white spot between
the branches of the lower mandible
(40. x. 339 & 40. xii.).
It is stated (Chelmsford Chronicle, June 14th,
1878) that during a thunderstorm a few days
before,
" On a field on Chappie Farm, Goldhanger, five Rooks were struck and killed
while on the ground, and four horses which had just been ploughing over
the spot may thus be said to have had a narrow escape. A tree hard-by was
untouched."
During winter, the trees at Birch, in which the Herons build, are occupied by
Rooks, many thousands roosting there every night. During a visit paid to the
Heronry on April 16th, 1888, by Mr. E.A. Fitch and myself, we were surprised
to see the ground below the trees completely strewn with small fragments of
white and red brick, disgorged by the Rooks in their pellets. Old india-rubber bands,
gathered by the birds from the Colchester and London manure, are not uncommon.
In 1883, there was a nest in one of the trees immediately adjoining the Museum
at Saffron Walden.
For some unexplained reason, all the Rooks in our Rookery at Lindsell
Hall, near Dunmow, suddenly left on March 10th, 1880, when in the middle of
their building operations, and did not return that year, though they had nested
there regularly and in large numbers for many years. The same occurred at
Fingrith Hall, Blackmore, the same spring, all the Rooks taking their departure
after a good deal of nest building had been accomplished, except one pair which
reared their young successfully. In the following year they returned to their
nests at both places.
I have been told that about forty or fifty years since a number perished through