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  • The Field

    Black magic for May

    Apr 15, 2021 3 minutes

    Next to the irrepressible and iridescent starling, the rook has to be my favourite British bird. This gregarious parliamentarian produces one of the most evocative sounds in our countryside, instantly bringing to mind the bucolic image of stately elms in a rectory garden or of misty mornings behind the plough. It is a raucous call and only a rooky mother could find music in it. Over the centuries, this has combined less than benevolently with the rook’s ink-black plumage, scaly grey face and pick-axe

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