After listening to an excellent “From Fact to Fiction” programme on BBC Radio 4 the other week about a “Parliament of Rooks” – an entertaining satire on MPs expenses – I found this interesting account :
“Rooks are common European members of the genus ‘Corvus’, and the commonest species of the genus in Britain. They nest and roost communally. Their sexual displays are fantastic, with tumbling falls in the air and complex aerobatics. In late winter, just before the breeding season (and at other times of the year too) it is common to see groups of rooks rising above leafless roosting trees, cawing away noisily. Such a group is known as a parliament of rooks, but “parliament” here does not just mean group (like “pride of lions). A medieval belief that is still current in some places is that a parliament of rooks is judging the souls of the recently dead, or that it is enacting laws for the natural kingdom for the coming year. Rooks, by the way, are scavengers….” David Brez Carlisle Carleton.CA
Also see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rook
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