use we have many Rooks in this neighbourhood
where the cockchafer is not known as a destructive insect, and I
know that insects of that class and their larvae are the most
favourite food of the Rook, which may be seen in the twilight
catching both cockchafers and the large blackbeetles which are
flying at that time in the evening.

I will mention another instance of the utility of the Rook which
occurred in this neighbourhood. Many years ago a flight of locusts
visited Craven, and they were so numerous as to create considerable
alarm among the farmers of the district. They were, however, soon
relieved from their anxiety, for the Rooks flocked in from all
quarters by thousands and tens of thousands, and devoured the
locusts so greedily that they were all destroyed in a short time.
Such, at least, is the account given, and I have heard it repeatedly
mentioned as the reason why the late Lord Ribblesdale was so partial
to Rooks. But I have no means of ascertaining how far this is true.

It was stated in the newspapers a year or two back that there was
such an enormous quantity of caterpillars upon Skiddaw, that they
devoured all the vegetation on the mountain, and people were
apprehensive they would attack the crops in the enclosed lands;
but the Rooks (which are fond of high ground in the summer) having
discovered them, put a stop to their ravages in a very short time.
(June 30th, 1832.)

These remarks are confirmed by a writer in the "Essex Herald" and
by Mr. Waterton. The former says:--"An extensive experiment
appears to have been made in some of the agricultural districts on
the Continent, the result of which has been the opinion that
farmers do wrong in destroying Rooks, Jays, Sparrows, and, indeed,
birds in general on their farms, particularly where there are
orchards."

That birds do mischief occasionally among ripe corn there can be
no doubt; but the harm they do in autumn is amply compensated by
the good they do in spring by the havoc they make among the insect
tribes. The quantity of grubs destroyed by Rooks and of
caterpillars and grubs by the various small birds, must be
annually immense. Other tribes of birds which feed on the wing--as
Swifts, Swallows, and Martins--destroy millions of winged insects
which would otherwise infest the air and become insupportably
troublesome. Even the Titmouse and the Bullfinch, usually supposed
to be so mischievous in gardens, have actually been proved only to
destroy tho