body again), the strong muscles by which they are worked can drive the bird with wonderful velocity through the air.

But we may easily forgive old Bewick for this slip of the pen, when from his pencil and graver, guided by the nicest eye for bird physiognomy ever known, we have images of our British birds, which, with all the superior softness and freedom of modern woodcuts, have never been approached in truth of outline, in spirit, or in distinctive bird character.

IN all the different classes into which the animal kingdom is divided, we find that certain families have a much higher degree of intelligence than others. Among the mammalia, or sucklers, the monkey, the dog, the elephant, and the horse may be taken as

examples; among reptiles, the serpent has long had a reputation for wisdom; among insects, the bees and ant enjoy a welldeserved pre-eminence over their fellows. With the habits of fishes, living entirely in a different element, we are less familiar. We all know there are some very "odd fishes,” and every angler knows there are some very cunning and some very silly fishes; but I am not sufficiently informed about fishes to give the palm of cleverness to any particular family. With regard to birds, however, I have no hesitation in saying that the Corvida, or crow kind, beat all the rest in intellectual attainments and practical wisdom. It is rather remarkable that most of these select families are gregarious in their habits,showing, perhaps, that there is nothing like living in society to sharpen the wits and improve the mind; at any rate, no one will doubt that, among the clever family of birds of which I am now speaking, the fact of rooks living in society gives them a decided advantage over the rest of their tribe. They are all clever, especially our old acquaintance the magpie; but there is a wisdom in rooks, due to the necessity of their making laws,

and seeing to their observance, which is not possessed by their relations who live in solitary pairs.

Of the true crows, the genus corvus, there are in Britain five species, the raven, the carrion crow, the hooded crow, the rook, and the jackdaw. The three first are solitary; the two last live all the year in flocks. The hooded crow is partly migratory, remaining all the year in the Western Isles, the Orkneys and Shetlands, and the North of Scotland, but only visiting the southern parts of our island in the winter.

Of the habits of rooks, the first I shall notice is their attachment to man, shown in the choice of their abodes. Every one must have noticed how they choose lofty trees in the vicinity of houses, in preference to any other place of settlement, and this notwithstanding the annual destruction of their young, and their systematic persecution on the lands. of their adopted patrons. Instances are known of old rookeries having been forsaken when the mansions near them have been taken down or abandoned; and, on the other hand, we see rookeries in the midst of crowded cities still fearlessly frequented, and

never deserted while a single tree is left standing. Probably this attachment is due to "cupboard love in some way or other. Where man is, there is a greater variety of food. The rooks are glad of our scraps for a change; and our ploughs turn up the grubs for them, and save their beaks. But I would not say that a kind of fellow-feeling, and an admiration of our social institutions, may not have something to do with it.

It is said that rooks are very sagacious in detecting unsoundness in trees, and that their forsaking a tree may generally be taken as a warning of its speedy fall. The truth seems to be, that the first sign of decay in trees is commonly perceived in the dying off of the upper branches, which renders them unsafe for perching on; and for this reason, and not from any foreknowledge of evil, the rooks remove to another tree.

Rooks are not without their social virtues, though it must also be allowed that they are by no means free from social vices. The male birds, as a rule, are good husbands, and their attentions are reciprocated by the wives. White, of Selborne, says, "As soon as rooks