the vicinity of the residence of man for their domicile, yet they, for
the most part, avoid cities and large towns, for one, among other
reasons, because there is no food for them. There are, notwithstanding,
some remarkable exceptions to this. The _House Sparrow_ is to be seen, I
believe, in every part of London. There is a rookery in the Tower; and
another was, till lately, in Carlton Palace Gardens; but the trees having
been cut down to make room for the improvements going on there, the rooks
removed in (1827,) to some trees behind the houses in New-street,
Spring-gardens. There was also, for many years, a rookery on the trees in
the churchyard of St. Dunstan's in the East, a short distance from the
Tower; the rooks for some years past deserted that spot, owing, it is
believed, to the fire that occurred a few years ago at the old Custom
House. But in 1827, they began again to build on those trees, which are
not elm, but a species of plane. There was also, formerly, a rookery on
some large elm trees in the College Garden behind the Ecclesiastical
Court in Doctors' Commons, a curious anecdote concerning which has been
recorded.

The _Stork_, and some other of the tribe of waders, are occasionally also
inhabitants of some of the continental towns.

Rooks appear to be peculiarly partial to building their nests in the
vicinity of the residence of man. Of the numerous rookeries of which I
have any recollection, most of them were a short distance from dwelling
houses. In March, 1827, there was a rookery on some trees, neither very
lofty nor very elegant, in the garden of the Royal Naval Asylum, at
Greenwich; and although many very fine and lofty elms are in the park
near, which one might naturally suppose the rooks would prefer, yet, such
is the fact, there is not even one rook's nest in Greenwich Park.
Possibly the company of so large a number of boys, and the noise which