INSESSORES.
CONIROSTRES.
CORVID JE.
T H E JACKDAW.
Cotuus monedula, The Jackdaw, P enn. Brit. Zool. vot. i. p. 296.
Mont. Ornith. IJict:
B ewick, Brit.Birds,, vgl. i. p. 94.
Flem. Brit: An. p. 88.
Selby, Brit. Otnith. vol. i. p. 356. ' r
J enyns, Brit. Vert. p. 147.
Gould, Birds of Europe, pt. xiv.
Le Choucas, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. I l l ,
J a c k d aw s , in some of their habits, very much resemble
Rooks, as last described, ^particularly in their sociability,
living together in considerable numbers throughout the year,
and whether seeking for food, or rearing their young, perfect
harmony appears to prevail' among them. They are even
more bold and familiar than Rooks, approaching nearer the
residence of man, and sometimes taking shelter under the
roof of his dwelling. They have also an air of greater cheerfulness
and activity in their movements. Jackdaws appear to
prefer cultivated, distriètkj frequenting and building in church
towers, belfriesv and steeples,; I havé observèd that a great
number constantly inhabit the higher parts of Windsor Castle.
Sometimes these birds make their nests, in hollow trees:
from several good authorities we learn that Jackdaws breed
frequently- in rabbit-burrows, and on the sea coast they
odcupy cavities’ in high, cliffs, or perpendicular rocks. I t is
mentioned by Pennant that these birds make their neSts
among the large masses of stone ati/Stone H enge, and Rusti-
cus of '.Godaiming says they build in great numbers in the
chalk: p it on Katherine Hill, near Godaiming. The Rev.
Leonard Jenynsy in a note to me, says, “ In Cambridgeshire
Jackdaws build very much in chimneys; which are sometimes
quite stopped -up from the quantity of .sticks brought together.
Neither do th ey appear to mind smoke, as I have
known them attempt to build in the chimney of a room in
which there was a fire kept pretty regularly from day to day.
From the quantity oi horse-dung which falls into the grates,
it would seem that they use this material perhaps for lining
the nést.’> Wool,; and other soft substances, are the materials
generally usèd for the lining, the outside is- formed of
sticks,1 and the mass collected together is sometimes very extraordinary
both in quality as well as quantity. At Cambridge,
says Mr. J . Denson,* there is good accommodation
for Jackdaws in the abundant receptacles for their nests
which the various churches and college buildings supply, and
Jackdaws are numerous at Cambridge. The botanic garden
there has three of its four sideav enclosed by thickly built
parts of the town, and has five parish churches and five colleges
within a short flight of it. The Jackdaws inhabiting
* Magazine of Natural History, vól. vi. page 397.