Except that it places its rude, stick-built nest in scattered trees, each pair by itself, instead of in a company, our American crow is closely similar to the English rooks about which so much is said in books about Great Britain. Everybody in England knows the rook by sight, and everybody is familiar with the rookeries in which a number of these birds nest together year after year. Indeed, they use the same nests over and over again, just putting them into proper order shortly before the eggs are laid. The scene when building operations begin is always a lively one, and all day long the birds are very busy. But oddly enough, they never seem to know when the winter is really over, and when a thaw comes after two or three frosty days in December, or even earlier, they get as excited as possible, setting to work and gathering sticks, and evidently thinking that spring is beginning! Rooks have very strict rules when they are building. For one rook to steal a stick from another rook's nest, for example, is a very serious crime, and sometimes is punished even with death. And young birds are not allowed to build in a tree outside the rookery, their nest being at once pulled to pieces by the older ones if they attempt to do so. Crows of all kinds are extremely useful birds, for they devour enormous quantities of mischievous grubs, more especially those which live at the roots of cultivated plants, where other birds cannot get at them. And you may often see them following the plow, and picking up their victims in scores. Thus they more than pay the farmer for the stalks of young corn or grain which they sometimes pull up in the spring. THE JACKDAW Another famous European bird, taking a part in many familiar stories and poems, is the jackdaw. It is a smaller bird than the rook, and is generally found near houses, being very fond of nesting in church towers, or in old ruins. But very often a colony of jackdaws will settle in a lofty cliff, and build on rocky ledges far beyond the reach of even the boldest climber. The jackdaw is easily tamed, and is a very interesting bird when kept as a pet, soon learning to talk almost as well as a parrot. But it is dreadfully mischievous, and if it finds any small glittering object is almost sure to carry it off and hide it. Sometimes, too, it will play very amusing tricks. We knew a tame jackdaw once which lived in a very large garden. One day the butcher's cart drove up, and the butcher went round to the kitchen entrance to take the orders. No sooner had he disappeared than the jackdaw flew up on the box, and called out, "Gee up!" Off started the horse at once, and if the gardener had not happened to meet the cart as it was passing out of the gate, with only the jackdaw inside, the butcher would certainly have been obliged to walk all the way home.