The Rook Population of West Gloucestershire

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The area investigated is roughly a rectangle, bounded on the east by the main Gloucester-Bristol road (A 38) from Berkeleyheath via Milburyheath to Filton, and then by the byepass (B 4056, B 4055, A 4018, B 4468) to Hotwells: on the south by the river Avon from Hotwells to its mouth: on the west by the river Severn to Sheperdine: and on the north by a country lane through Hill to Ham, and thence by B 4068 through Berkeley to Berkeleyheath. The western part consists of an alluvial plain on the banks of the Severn, making up about half the area, and having an almost uniform height above sea-level of about 20 ft. Rising up from this on the east is undulating country with a maximum height of 351 ft. above sea-level, the underlying rock being almost entirely Rhaetic. There is a little Trias and some Carboniferous limestone exposed. The high ground is mostly pasture, but contains some arable land, and many houses with parkland and fox coverts, while the plain consists almost entirely of pasture, the fields being separated by rhines. There are numbers of hedgerow elms all over the area, so that nowhere is there any considerable region which is without suitable trees for rooks' nests. About 71 sq. miles in the south is within the boundaries of the city of Bristol. No allowance has been made for this in calculating densities, as most of it is agricultural land, and the rest is open suburb containing two rookeries.