| E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. |
| | | Winged Rooks. | | |
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Outwitted sharpers. A rook is a sharper, and a rookery the place of resort for sharpers. A rook is the opposite of a pigeon; a rook cheats, a pigeon is the one cheated. | 1 |
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“This light, young, gay in appearance, the thoughtless youth of wit and pleasure—the pigeon rather than the rook—but the heart the same sly, shrewd, cold-blooded calculator.”—Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. xxviii. |
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