Rook

rook, term used for a common Eurasian bird (genus Corvus) of the family Corvidae (Crow family), smaller than the American crow. The jackdaw is a European species of the genus. Rooks nest in large colonies, whence the term rookery. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Corvidae.

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rook

Most abundant Eurasian bird (Corvus frugilegus) of the crow family (Corvidae). Rooks, 18 in. (45 cm) long, are black and have shaggy thigh feathers and bare white skin at the base of the sharp bill. They are migratory and range discontinuously from Britain to Iran and Manchuria. They dig for larvae and worms in meadows and plowed fields. They nest in large colonies (rookeries) in tall trees, sometimes within towns; the nest, solidly constructed of twigs and soil, is used year after year.

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rook¹

a large Eurasian passerine bird, Corvus frugilegus, with a black plumage and a whitish base to its bill: family Corvidae (crows)

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rook²

a chesspiece that may move any number of unoccupied squares in a straight line, horizontally or vertically.

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Rook 

(Corvus frugilegus), a bird of the family Corvidae of the order Passeriformes. The body is about 44 cm long. The feathers are black with a blue-violet cast. In adult birds the skin at the base of the beak is bare. Rooks are distributed in central Europe and Asia. In the USSR they are known south of the line Arkhangel’sk-Yakutsk; they are numerous only in agricultural regions. The rook is a migratory bird; it winters in the southern European part of the USSR and in Middle Asia. It arrvies at the nesting sites in March and leaves in October-November. The birds nest in colonies in high trees. They are very useful in destroying various pest insects, but during crop sowing they may harm sowings of grain, grape, and vegetable crops, because they peck out the seeds and shoots.

REFERENCES

Formozov, A. N., V. I. Osmolovskaia. and K. N. Blagosklonov. Ptitsy i vrediteli lesa. Moscow, 1950.